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27Dec

South Korea Allows Fresh U.S. Potatoes Again

South Korea has rescinded a 2012 ban on table-stock potatoes from Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced the reversal on Dec. 18. The ban stemmed from "technical concerns," according to the USDA, and the South Korean government has put in place new guidelines for U.S. exporters to the country. Those guidelines will be released to the U.S. potato industry in January, according to a news release. A quota system will cap U.S. exports...

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14Dec

California May Usurp Florida's Crown as U.S. Orange King

It’s been a miserable few years for Florida’s orange crop. And now to add insult to injury, California is gearing up to steal the sunshine’s state crown as the king of U.S. citrus production. After a decade of the citrus-greening disease devastating Florida oranges, Hurricane Irma smashed into groves this year, inflicting yet another blow to the crop. Farmers in the state are set to collect 46 million boxes of the fruit this season, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday....

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12Dec

Promising North Carolina Cotton Yields

According to the USDA, nearly all of the cotton crop has been picked, and now the gins are hard at work. In Red Springs, North Carolina, the Hoke Robeson gin reached its 50,000 bale mark for the season earlier in December. Workers are saying they anticipated ginning up to 7,000 more bales before 2017 is over. “It’s been a great harvest season, a great ginning season and everybody’s yields have been spectacular,” said Edgar Edens, a worker from Hoke Robeson. He said a lot...

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07Dec

USDA Promises More Power to States on SNAP Rules

States can enjoy greater local control of how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp) benefits are administered, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. While the USDA did not spell out the implications of its new policy, Politico reported it could result in states putting in place new requirements for drug testing of participants and perhaps other oversight measures. In fact, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recently said he would put in place drug testing for food stamp applicants. That was a move that...

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