The federal government shutdown is now in day 21, matching the record set in 1995-1996 when the House in the 104th Congress was controlled by Republicans and the president was a Democrat - the reverse of today’s situation. Yesterday the House passed an appropriations bill to fund USDA and FDA by a vote of 243-183, but the Senate will not be taking it up because of a veto threat by the president. A total of 10 Republicans voted for the bill with Representative Rodney Davis of Illinois the only GOP House Agriculture Committee member to do so. USDA has been sorting out some issues, or as Secretary Perdue put it, leveraging existing resources “as best we can.” Following are some of the things USDA is still doing:
Meat, po...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
