Farmers face higher fuel costs and higher feed costs for their livestock. A cold April and early rains have slowed farmers in southern Minnesota, and especially in Iowa, the heart of the nation's corn crop, where farmers had just 14 percent of the crop in the ground by the end of April, compared with 58 percent in the ground by the same time last year, according to the U. Some of this year's increase will mean fewer acres of other crops, including soybeans, wheat, barley, dry beans, sugar...

Food items are normally required to be low in fat, sugar and sodium. Government food experts work to ensure that all the food they purchase is healthful and nutritious. With today's announcement of USDA's intention to buy, FNS will survey potential recipients to determine how much product will be accepted for shipping. USDA also makes emergency purchases of commodities for distribution to victims of natural disasters. AMS will seek the lowest overall cost by publicly inviting bids to...

Today's markets Highs and lows Mutual fund finder May 15, 2007 07:05 PM Christopher Doering reuters WASHINGTONA 130-pound person would have to consume 800 pounds of food laced with the industrial chemical melamine in a single day to reach a level that would be considered harmful, U. Today's markets Highs and lows Mutual fund finder May 15, 2007 07:05 PM Christopher Doering reuters WASHINGTONA 130-pound person would have to consume 800 pounds of food laced with the industrial chemical...

USDA has been saying for a year it hopes to list the remaining import restrictions, but subsequent mad cow cases in Alberta, B. Blair Frache, who works in the livestock trailer sales industry, told local media a complete lifting of the beef ban means increased sales of livestock trailers and more trucking jobs. Canadian cattle farmers, feedlots, and livestock trucking companies have been suffering for the last three years as the national herd has swelled since 2003 -- although the number...

Published: May 19, 2007 Business: Retail Food scares may help farmers markets By Rowena Vergara ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR Click here for more information about Rowena Vergara ROCKFORD A string of high-profile food-borne illnesses nationwide may spur more interest in locally grown produce, especially food sold at farmers markets. Published: May 19, 2007 Business: Retail Food scares may help farmers markets By Rowena Vergara ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR Click here for more information about Rowena...

Iowa Farmers Union is among more than 200 agricultural and trade organizations that believe these measures are critical to the protection of open and fair markets for all livestock producers. As any livestock farmer knows, options for marketing hogs and cattle have shrunk dramatically in the past 30 years. DesMoinesRegister.com Home::Opinion. When Congressman Boswell held hearings in mid-April on livestock competition, witnesses testified about unjust retaliation by poultry processors,...