Family Farm and Food Bytes
FARMERS’ SHARE OF FOOD DOLLAR IS SHRINKING (Successful Farming) – A decade ago, farmers received 17.6¢ of each $1 spent on food by Americans. Their share now is barely above 14¢ while processors, retailers, and others in the food chain take a larger share, according to USDA economists, who have tracked the farmer/marketer relationship for a quarter century.
BURGER KING LAUNCHES NEW CHICKEN SANDWICH NATIONWIDE (CNN) – Burger King's new chicken sandwich is here, and it is entering a market that's more crowded than ever. The chain’s chicken sandwich campaign comes at a time when chicken supplies are limited. Burger King is "not immune" to those challenges, but the brand has secured its chicken supply during the phased rollout.
AMERICA’S CORN FARMERS TO SPONSOR MLB AT FIELD OF DREAMS (KFGO) – Major League Baseball announced today that the National Corn Growers Association has agreed to become an official partner of this summer’s MLB at Field of Dreams event. The game will be played at a newly constructed ballpark adjacent to the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa on Thursday, August 12th and will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS ARE STRETCHED AS AMERICANS HEAD BACK TO RESTAURANTS (Wall Street Journal) – Suppliers and logistics providers say distributors are facing shortages of everyday products like chicken parts, as well as difficulty in finding workers and surging transportation costs as companies effectively try to reverse the big changes in food services that came as coronavirus lockdowns spread across the U.S. last year.
WHAT THE SOARING COST OF BREAKFAST MAY SIGNAL FOR GLOBAL FOOD PRICE INFLATION (Financial Times) – The cost of raw materials that go into making breakfast staples have roared higher since the pandemic began — raising fears that a broad commodity boom could push up global food prices for consumers.
DOORDASH AND UBER EATS ARE HOT. THEY’RE STILL NOT MAKING MONEY (Wall Street Journal) – Food-delivery companies did record-breaking business during the pandemic, as millions of homebound Americans embraced the idea of ordering dinner via smartphone apps. Their valuations skyrocketed. They acquired reams of data that helped increase their efficiency. There was just one problem: Even at the height of their success, they weren’t making any money.
MANUAL LABOR PROBLEMS DRIVE MIDWEST DAIRY FARMERS TO MORE TECH SOLUTIONS (Herald & Review) – A study by Western Illinois University determined cows milked by robots produce five additional pounds of milk daily. Some benefits are less tangible, such as flexibility for the producer. But the biggest impetus driving the trend may be difficulty finding labor, an issue increasing in agriculture overall.
USDA sets dates for CRP general, grasslands sign up (FarmWeekNow) - Farmers and landowners have until July 23 to apply for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup. In addition, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) will accept applications for CRP grasslands from July 12 to Aug. 20. This year, USDA updated both signup options to provide greater incentives for farmers and increase conservation benefits. Sign up for both programs is competitive.
Through CRP, farmers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. FSA has added a new climate-smart practice incentive for practices that sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
CRP grasslands helps landowners and farm operators protect grassland, including rangeland, and pastureland and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as grazing lands. FSA updated the grasslands signup to establish a minimum rental rate of $15 per acre and new national grassland priority zones.
About Family Farm and Food Bytes: This is a collection of articles gathered from both mainstream and agriculture media and is designed to keep you informed as a member and leader within the Cook County Farm Bureau® organization. The articles summarized above are not intended to represent Cook County Farm Bureau policy or positions, but rather to provide members an idea of what is being reported regionally, nationally, and globally.