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House Passes $1.5 Trillion Debt Limit Increase, Spending Cuts

House Republicans narrowly passed legislation Wednesday pairing nearly $4.8 trillion in deficit reduction measures with a debt limit increase into next year -- a move they argue should force Democrats to finally negotiate conditions for raising the nation’s borrowing limit. The 222-member House GOP conference largely unified around the bill after weeks of tense negotiations, including last-minute changes leadership reluctantly agreed to include in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. MORE

Source: MBS

U.S. GDP Rose at a 1.1% Pace in the First Quarter as Signs Build that the Economy is Slowing

Growth in the U.S. slowed considerably during the first three months of the year as interest rate increases and inflation took hold of an economy largely expected to decelerate even further ahead. Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and services produced for the period, rose at a 1.1% annualized pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting growth of 2%. The growth rate followed a fourth quarter in which GDP climbed 2.6%, part of a year that saw a 2.1% increase. MORE

Source: IMA

Top Senate Ag Committee Members Hear Southeast Minnesota Farm Bill Priorities

As work continues on the next farm bill, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, the lead Republican and ranking member of the committee, made stops in Minnesota on April 21, starting at a farm in southeast Minnesota. Klobuchar hosted Boozman on a tour of meetings with farmers, conservation groups, nutrition leaders and other agricultural researchers and businesses. MORE

Source: Constitution Partners

Reps. Brad Finstad and Michelle Fischbach Form Advisory Committees to Study Farm Bill

The 2018 Farm Bill expires on Sept. 30, 2023, and lawmakers are hard at work studying the issues that are important to farmers. Congress has experienced a lot of turnover since the last farm bill was passed, and Reps. Brad Finstad and Michelle Fischbach, both Republicans from Minnesota, are among the new lawmakers gearing up for their first bill. We talked to them to learn how they're getting ready by forming advisory committees. MORE

Source: Fluence Media

Proposed SEC Rule Won’t Work for Family Farms

A proposed rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would require public companies to report on Scope 3 emissions, which are the result of activities the companies don’t own or control. Public companies producing goods from agricultural products would need to report emissions from the relevant agricultural operations. Travis Cushman, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) deputy general counsel for litigation and public policy, said this would have a profoundly negative impact on farmers and ranchers. MORE

Source: MBS

Iowa State Scientist Picked to Lead NIFA

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture has a new director, Manjit K. Misra, USDA announced Monday. Misra, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University, has headed the university’s Seed Science Center for 30 years. He will start at NIFA on May 8. Since 2011, the seed center has run the National Seed Health System, authorized by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. MORE

Source: MBS

Senate Passes Marijuana Legalization, Bill Heads into Final Discussions

In a major sign of momentum for legalization of adult-use marijuana, the Minnesota Senate approved a bill Friday that sets up a structure for growing and selling cannabis while revisiting convictions for past drug crimes. The 34-33 party line vote sends the bill into final negotiations with the Minnesota House, which passed a different version on Tuesday. If those talks lead to a merged bill, new votes would be needed to send it to DFL Gov. Tim Walz for his promised signature. MORE

Source: Fluence Media

Minnesota's Delegation Travels the State to Discuss the Farm Bill

Minnesota's congressional delegation has been taking a spin around the state in the past few weeks, meeting in conference rooms, barns and farmhouses patrolled by sleepy dogs and talking with farmers and hunger advocates about the farm bill. On Friday, during an afternoon stop at the historic Oliver Kelley Farm outside Elk River, Rep. Tom Emmer, the GOP whip in Congress, promised to keep the sizable nutrition title programs coupled with the twice-a-decade farm bill. MORE

Source: MBS



Personal Property Tax Repeal Inches Closer to Reality in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is inching closer to repealing an obscure tax that has been modified by so many carve-outs that several lawmakers compared it to “Swiss cheese” during a committee hearing on Tuesday. “No legislator of either party would cast a vote to impose a personal property tax in its current form,” said Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, a co-author of a legislative proposal to repeal the tax, in testimony to the state Senate’s Committee on Universities and Revenue. The personal property tax was implemented in the 1830s, before Wisconsin became a state, as a means of funding the territorial government. MORE

Source: WisPolitics

Assembly Passes Limits for Unemployment Aid

Wisconsin residents looking for work would receive fewer unemployment benefits and face stricter qualification requirements under a package of Republican-authored bills passed on party-line votes Tuesday in the Assembly. The seven measures follow a statewide April election in which more than three-quarters of voters supported a nonbinding ballot question saying they believe able-bodied adults should have to look for work to receive government assistance. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed nearly identical legislation in his first term, and it’s likely he will do the same this time around if the Republican-controlled Senate passes the measures. MORE

Source: WisPolitics

New Area Code Coming to Northeast Wisconsin in May

Northeast Wisconsin will receive a new area code next month as 920 phone numbers are running out. All current customers will keep their existing phone numbers, and the new 274 area code will be used for new customers, according to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, or PSC. Laura Fay, Universal Service and Digital Equity manager for the PSC, said northeast Wisconsin’s 920 area code is expected to run out of unassigned prefixes — the three digits after an area code — by next year. MORE

Source: WisPolitics

FDA Wants More Input on Plant-based Milk Labeling

The FDA continues to discuss the naming and labeling of plant-based products sold as alternatives to milk and will reopen the public comment period at some point. The original draft guidance called for plant-based products such as "almond milk" to disclose how the nutrient profile differs from dairy milk. MORE

Source: CBA



Upcycled Ingredient Development on the Upswing

A buzzword among food formulators today is upcycling. It's a concept gaining traction among a growing number of consumers and food manufacturers interested in reducing food waste through a circular economy. MORE

Source: CLFP

Supply Chain Disruptions Bring Short-notice Ingredient Changes

Many industries are facing widespread business challenges posed today by cost pressures, such as inflation, raw material shortages, supply chain crunches and even natural events including limited harvests or severe weather. As many ingredients have become scarce or expensive, manufacturers have had no issues sourcing alternatives — meaning substitutions are becoming more widespread. MORE

Source: CLFP

Ampco Pumps formalizes agreement to become a member of the Krones Group

Ampco Pumps Company and Krones, a leading manufacturer of filling, packaging and processing equipment, have entered an agreement for Krones to acquire ninety percent of Ampco Pumps Company. Ampco manufactures centrifugal and positive displacement pumps and mixing & blending equipment for the food, beverage, marine and industrial markets. Krones has an option to buy the remaining shares in Ampco, which currently remain with company management. Current Ampco management will remain in place. MORE

Redwood Logistics Expands Mexico Footprint as Nearshoring Trend Gains Steam

Redwood Logistics has expanded its operations in Mexico, showing the latest step in a logistics industry trend to build tighter supply chains between the U.S. and Mexico in the wake of pandemic supply disruptions. Chicago-based Redwood said it had expanded its operations into new offices in Monterrey, Mexico, building on a five-year history of doing business in that country. MORE

Source: Wall Street Journal Logistics Report

The Difference Between Processed Food and Ultra-Processed Food—and Why It Matters for Health

You’ve heard of processed foods before, but what about ultra-processed foods? This descriptor is gaining more attention as research around this food category unfolds. What are ultra-foods, anyway--and what’s considered a processed food in the first place? Here’s a primer on what these nutrition terms mean, the health implications associated with processed and ultra-processed food (and drinks), and smart ways to navigate your way around these different options. MORE

Source: MBS



Co-manufacturing, R&D Investment Ramps up in Wake of Supply Chain Challenges

A survey of nearly 300 food and beverage professionals released by TraceGains reported that more brands have ramped up the use of contract manufacturing and invested more in new product development in the wake of pandemic-induced supply chain issues. According to the “2023 Food and Beverage CPG Innovation Report” from the ingredients-marketplace provider, the co-manufacturing model has gained popularity, with 55% of companies surveyed stating they outsource more of their production than compared to three years ago. MORE

Source: CLFP

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