7 ag stories you might have missed this week - April 10, 2020

Court rejects SRE appeal, Ag Economy Barometer drops and COVID-19 disrupts agriculture.

Janet Kubat Willette, E-Content Editor

April 10, 2020

2 Min Read
NolanBerg11/flySnow/SteveOehlenschlager/ThinkstockPhotos

Missed some ag news this week? Here's seven stories to catch you up.

1. Farmers are doubting whether a 97-million-acre corn planting is realistic given tumbling futures prices and shuttering ethanol plants. – Farm Futures

2. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January that Small Refinery Exemptions can only be used as extensions for refineries that have secured them continuously each year since 2010. That standard excludes all but two refineries from consideration for future waivers. On April 7, the federal court rejected an appeal from oil refiners HollyFrontier and CVR Energy, both of which had received waivers the court considered inappropriate. – Reuters

3. COVID-19 is closing restaurants and schools and forcing hard choices for the nation's farmers. The sooner milk is rerouted to processors that can bottle and distribute fluid milk, the better. – The Wall Street Journal, Wisconsin Agriculturalist

4. The Ag Economy Barometer experienced the largest one-month fall in its existence in March, dropping 47 points, or 28%, from a month earlier. Farmers expressed concern about how the coronavirus will impact their farms and trade with 62% expecting the Trump administration to send Market Facilitation Program payments in 2020. – Farm Futures

5. The price of poultry at the wholesale level has dropped 20% to 25% as the new coronavirus pandemic shifts buying patterns. The low prices are expected to send ripples through the economy in Georgia, where chicken is the leading agricultural business. About 33,000 people work in processing jobs in the state. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

6. Farmers who have spent decades building a local, sustainable agricultural system are staring at their fields and wondering what to do now that COVID-19 has disrupted normal routines and closed restaurants and schools. The pipeline connecting farmers, ranchers and chefs generated $12 billion in income for small-scale farmers in 2019. – The New York Times

7. The Trump administration responded quickly to letters from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Sen. Deb Fischer to look into potential anticompetitive behavior in the beef packing industry. – BEEF magazine

And your bonus.

Doing virtual tours? Check out this slideshow from the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Nebraska. The centerpiece Stuhr Building was designed by architect Edward Durell, who also designed the Kennedy Center for the Performing Acts. – Nebraska Farmer

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