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ERS reports and studies can provide context to breaking
stories on food, agriculture, natural resources, and rural
development.
In
the News
Textile trade quotas expire, as U.S. industry
faces change (Washington Post, 12/31)
From ERS
Rural
Textile and Apparel Jobs Continue to Decline.
With expiration of the World Trade Organization's Multifibre
Arrangement, rural economies could suffer additional
job losses in textiles and apparel.
In
the News
Wisconsin dairy farms face competition from
operations in West (Chicago Tribune, 12/24)
From ERS
Characteristics
and Production Costs of U.S. Dairy Operations.
Milk producers in the West had a significant cost advantage
over producers in other regions, according to data
from the 2000 Agricultural Resource Management Survey,
the most recent national survey of milk producers.
In the News
Food safety cited as tool of protectionism
(Wall
Street Journal, 12/15)
From ERS
Food
Safety and International Trade. Food safety
and international trade are increasingly intertwined
as new food safety challenges have emerged and as trade
has expanded and changed to meet global demand.
In the News
Tobacco farmers foregoing auctions in favor of contracts
(Bowling Green Daily News, 12/12)
From ERS
Contract
Use Continues to Expand. For producers, contracting
can reduce risks, ensure market access, and provide
higher returns for differentiated products. For buyers,
contracting can guarantee a certain method of production,
obtain differentiated products, and ensure traceability
and the flow of products.
In the News
More schools installing milk vending machines (Associated
Press, 12/5)
From ERS
Competitive
Foods: Soft Drinks vs. Milk. USDA-provided
foods like milk have higher nutritional quality
than alternative
“competitive” foods like soft drinks.
An ERS case study of milk/soft drink competition
sheds light on the impact of competitive foods
on school meal programs.
In the News
New FDA rules aim to track food
in bioterror attack (Dailies, 12/7; Associated
Press, 12/6)
From ERS
Traceability in the U.S. Food Supply: Economic
Theory and Industry Studies.
Traceability systems generate information
on the flow of food and food products
and aid in tracking food to its source.
ERS examined the amount, type, and adequacy
of traceability systems, focusing on
fresh produce, grains and oilseeds, and
cattle/beef.
In the News
Canada, U.S. dispute over trade of pork products (Wall
Street Journal, 11/30)
From ERS
Market
Integration in the North American Hog Industries.
About 8 percent of the hogs slaughtered in
the United States in 2004 will originate
in Canada—many more than 10 years ago.
Canadian hogs have flowed into the United
States in response to significant structural
changes in the U.S. pork industry, concurrent
with policy changes in Canada.
In the News
Farm subsidies rise, biggest farms receive
largest payments (Wires, 11/30)
from ERS
Farm
Income and Costs: Which Farms Receive Government
Payments? According to the 2003 Agricultural
Resource Management Survey, 38.8 percent
of all farms received government payments
in 2003. Payments averaged $13,025 for those
operations receiving payments, contributing
9.7 percent of gross cash income to these
farms in 2003. Although most of the payments
went to larger operations, government program
payments contributed a larger share of gross
cash income to smaller farms.
In the News
Senators band together to draw attention
to hunger (Washington Post, 11/25)
Democrats make appeal for hungry in their
weekly radio address (AP, 11/27)
From ERS
Household
Food Security in the United States, 2003.
Food Assistance and Nutrition Research
Report No. (FANRR42) 69 pp, October 2004.
Eighty-nine percent of American households
were food secure throughout the entire year
in 2003, meaning that they had access, at
all times, to enough food for an active,
healthy life for all household members. The
remaining households were food insecure at
least some time during that year.
In the News
Former secretaries see conservation payments taking
on greater importance (Des Moines Register, 11/28)
From ERS
Emphasis
Shifts in U.S. Agri-Environmental Policy. The
2002 Farm Act authorized increases in conservation
funding to levels that by 2007 will be double those
of the last decade, with about two-thirds of the new
funds going to programs emphasizing conservation on
working lands—lands that continue to be used
for crop production and grazing. With the slated increases,
conservation programs for working lands will move from
less than 15 percent of Federal expenditures on agricultural
conservation over the past 15 years up to about half
of the much larger total conservation spending by 2007.
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