USDA has new rules for organic food suppliers, but many in its complex distribution chain may not be ready

Complex organic food chains needed updated
regulation. (Photo by nrd, Unsplash)

The certification of the U.S.'s organic food supply faces its first big change in 30 years, and many food companies may not be ready. The Department of Agriculture launched its Strengthening Organic Enforcement regulations on March 19, and some experts are waiting to see "if unprepared companies will get left behind," reports Lydia Noyes of FoodDive. "The new rule is the most significant change to organic certification since the program's start. . . . There's growing concern that large portions of the food industry. . . haven't made the necessary compliance changes."

The organic food industry has grown exponentially since the 1990s and has "out-scaled its initial regulations. That's led to gaps in enforcement that allowed for loopholes and outright fraud," Noyes writes. The SOE rule is designed to address the sector's growth and complexity, but has been largely ignored. Nate Ensrud, an executive with FoodChain ID, one of the largest organic certifiers in the U.S., told Noyes he has "noticed little action across the industry to meet SOE's changes."

The failure to address the new rule may come from a lack of information and a historical lack of oversight requirements. Ensrud told Noyes, "Some organic suppliers are still unaware of the March 19 compliance requirements. Because importers, exporters, brokers, traders, and storage facilities have not historically been required to be certified, we believe there will be an increase in last-minute organic certification applications."

When a supplier is not SOE compliant, production may suffer. Ensrud told Noyes: "Suppose a manufacturer of organic breakfast cereals finds that a handler of organic raisins in their supply chain hasn't pursued certification in light of SOE. Now the manufacturer must find a replacement, and it might suffer production disruption in the meantime."

In their first 3 years, Biden has sent as much federal money to farmers as did Trump, who likes to talk about his largesse

Politico illustration

Former president Donald Trump "makes hay in farm states like Iowa by reminding farmers of how much money the federal government paid them during his presidency," but President Biden has delivered about the same in the first three years of their presidencies: $57 billion.

So reports Garrett Downs of Politico's Weekly Agriculture, adding, "Nearly half of Trump’s total $109 billion in direct payments were delivered in his final year, 2020." That's when the Department of Agriculture "paid farmers more than $52 billion, an unprecedented sum since USDA began recording farm payment data in 1933. Those tallies don’t include billions in other types of farm support, like crop insurance and loan financing — traditionally the largest types of ag subsidies."

Applying other measures, "Biden has been better for farmers than Trump," Downs writes. "Net farm income has actually gone up since the Democrat entered the White House. On average, net farm income has totaled $165 billion between 2021 and 2023, compared to $94 billion between 2017 and 2019. Farm income reached a record high of nearly $189 billion in 2022. And while it is projected to drop off in 2023 (USDA is still tallying receipts from December 2023), it remains above the 20-year average for receipts."

Looking ahead, Downs notes that Trump is proposing "a universal tariff on nearly all goods," while Biden "is telling farmers that his administration is working to distribute the recent surge in ag profits to farmers across the spectrum, not just the largest ag conglomerates." Joe Glauber, former chief USDA economist, told Downs that Trump’s proposed tariff could bring another trade war and “really hurt U.S. agriculture.”

When that happened under Trump, he used the USDA's Commodity Credit Corp. to send $28 billion in relief to farmers, but Glauber said farmers shouldn't expect another bailout. “I think that’s taking a big leap of faith,” he said. “Those were big, extraordinary payments, and I think it may be naive to think that they would be there year in and year out.”

Reflecting on the pandemic as Covid-19 comes back, Iowa editor writes: 'This is a lot for any nation to absorb'

Art Cullen

As U.S. pharmacies roll out updated Covid-19 booster vaccines, it might be a good time to look at how much the pandemic still alters daily life around the planet. The trauma and changes brought on by Covid-19 still cast a long shadow, Iowa editor Art Cullen writes for his Storm Lake Times Pilot.

"It's impossible to forget: I was on the phone one dank morning in the spring of 2020 with brother John, who lives just a block east. We were isolating at home, trying to figure out what to do with the newspaper. Should we just shut it down? . . . We decided we couldn't quit. . . . . We're okay now, but the thought of it still traumatizes me. . . . People were dying every week. Some businesses never came back.

"We're still living it. The latest iteration of Covid spreads as classes resume. The psychological trauma persists. Friendships eroded through isolation and political extremity. Eating habits changed from dine-in to carry-out. Church attendance dropped even farther. . . . Shocks to the food system continue to ripple. . . The pork and poultry industries are beset by trouble as supply chains work out the huge whipsaws of the past four years. Food prices have moderated but continue to fire inflation sparked by the pandemic shutdown.

Cullen writes that changes go well beyond the United States. "The pandemic rewired world trade. China is reeling. Brazil has become the most-favored soybean trader with Asia. . . . These are huge changes that have not been fully digested. . . . 

"This is a lot for any nation to absorb. We are still working through it. . . . Early polling that confirms a general angst over everything — call it the blues or clinical depression. . . . The pandemic casts a shadow over our personal lives, our communities and politics. Supply shocks, inflation, rewriting world trade, and unkinking food supply chain links all are moving parts in this complex machinery. . . . American resilience is amazing. Democracy and justice have prevailed so far," Cullen writes.

"Still, we are not post-pandemic. It colors everything. Gov. [Kim] Reynolds last week rejected the idea of any more lockdowns. 'My answer—not on my watch,' she said. Not that anybody in Iowa was actually suggesting another shutdown. It just shows how the trauma of it still animates us."

Scourge of invasive plants and animals is an 'extinction event on par with the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs'

Brown tree snakes were accidentally introduced in Guam. It ate
many native birds into extinction. (Photo by David Clode, Unsplash)

Black rats, brown tree snakes and water hyacinth are only a few of the more than 3,500 invasive species "wreaking havoc across the planet, destroying crops, disseminating pathogens, depleting fish people rely on for food and driving native plants and animals toward extinction, according to a major report backed by the United Nations," reports Dino Grandoni of The Washington Post. "The landmark assessment found harmful invasive species cost society more than $423 billion a year. . . .A tally only expected to grow as the modern age of global trade and travel continues. . . . The result is a great scrambling of the planet's flora and fauna, with dire implications for humans and the ecosystems they depend on."

Continental globe-trotting "is one of the main causes of Earth's ongoing biodiversity crisis, an extinction event on par with the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs," Grandoni explains. Invasive species are playing a role in 60 percent of extinctions, according to the report, which was created by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, a body made up of more than 140 countries that provide policymakers with scientific assessments to help protect Earth's biodiversity and prevent extinctions. Aníbal Pauchard, a professor at the University of Concepción in Chile who co-chaired the group behind the report, told Grandoni: "It's normal that species move. It's not normal that a species crosses the Atlantic. . . . Not normal that it goes from Australia to Chile."

The report names the black rat as "most widespread invasive animal, which spread by stowing away on ships and scurried its way not only into dense cities but onto far-flung islands as well, where it has decimated ground-nesting seabirds and other animals," Gradoni reports. "The impact of land-dwelling rats on islands is so profound that even nearby reef fish can feel it after the rodents alter the flow of nutrients into the ocean. . . . . On the island of Guam, the voracious brown tree snake has already driven several native birds to extinction."

An innocent-looking water hyacinth floats in a pond at the
Memphis Zoo, Tenn. (Photo by Joshua J. Cotten, Unsplash)

Aquatic systems are facing epic invasions with dire outcomes. "In the Caribbean, venomous lionfish are driving down the numbers of native fish. In the Great Lakes, zebra mussels are clogging the intake pipes of drinking water systems and power plants," Grandino writes. "But one of the most devastating aquatic invaders is a delicate-looking flower," a free-floating plant that spreads so aggressively, "it can cover entire ponds and lakes, leaving a matted mess that impedes boat traffic and fishing. . . . The plants suck up so much water that they render lakes dry and leave communities without drinking water. The report lists the water hyacinth, "which is popping up everywhere from Africa to Australia, the most widespread invasive plant on Earth."

Researchers list prevention as the best solution "through border monitoring and import control," Grandino reports. "In December, nations agreed to try to reduce the spread of harmful invasive species by at least half by 2030 as part of an international agreement."

U.S. farm exports jump 14% to new record, but imports of farm goods rise 19%, eating up most of trade surplus

The U.S. exported a record value of farm products in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, but imports of agricultural products also surged, "leaving a scant trade surplus of $2.4 billion, compared to the surplus of $8.4 billion the previous year," reports Bryan Doherty of Successful Farming.

Farm exports were valued at $196.4 billion, 14% higher than the previous record of $172.7 billion, set in the previous fiscal year, the Commerce Department said. China remained the top buyer, at $36.4 billion; Canada was second at $24.3 billion and Mexico third at $23.9 billion.

Among farm goods, soybean exports rose 26%, to $33.3 billion. Wheat was up 15%, to $8.3 billion, and corn rose 12%, Doherty reports: "Cotton had the largest increase in percentage terms, 41%, to $9 billion. Dairy, red meats and ethanol also notched large increases. But rice sales fell 10% and tobacco 27%."

Imports rose 19%, to $194 billion. "Ag imports are dominated by shipments of fruits, vegetables, nuts, wine, beer, distilled spirits, sweeteners and tropical products such as coffee and cocoa," Doherty notes.