He described the decline in soybean acreage as "jaw-dropping. Soybean prices shot to the market limit on Friday in the wake of the USDA report, trading up 50 cents for much of the day to $8. A surge in corn prices above $4 a bushel in February - when crop insurers determine the current year's payout per bushel - made converts of many farmers who had harbored doubts over whether corn prices would stay high. The USDA reported that farmers seeded more corn this year than they have since 1944....

It's also usually cheaper to begin farming with livestock. So, if we want to encourage new, younger farmers, we should strongly consider livestock production as a partial solution. Here's another way the farm bill can make a difference: promoting avenues to enter farming. Using corn and soybeans to make fuel for our cars and trucks is driving feed costs higher, but farmers need to be reassured that no animals will go hungry. Citizens, livestock and crop farmers, food companies,...

A farm bill provision that would usurp local control when it comes to large animal confinement operations is being opposed by the Center for Rural Affairs and 29 other farm and community groups. Under the provision, it would prohibit states and localities from enacting laws relating to livestock, poultry or genetically engineered crops after they have been inspected and/or approved by the U. Wenzel said that to eliminate states' and localities' traditional power to craft meaningful...

As authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill, each year USDA awards $24 million among the seven states with the best payment accuracy rates and the three states with the most improved payment accuracy rates. USDA also proposes to spend an additional $500 million on fruits and vegetables specifically for USDA school meals programs. An additional $6 million will be divided among the four states with the lowest negative error rates and the two states with the most improved negative error rates. USDA s...

In Wyoming, livestock and crops add more than $1 billion to the state's revenue every year. farm subsidies, arguing that unless or until there is a world agreement on agriculture trade, U. Montana's agricultural sector is the largest natural resource industry in the state, approaching $3 billion in cash income each year. Also in the outline are programs that are resistant to WTO challenge, an increase in spending on more conservation programs, a greater emphasis on renewable energy fuels...