Potato Exports Higher and Cattle Inventory Unchanged
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.**Exports of frozen, dehydrated and fresh U.S. potatoes posted modest gains through the first three quarters of the July 2018 thru June 2019 marketing year.
According to potatocountry.com, the impact of the very small 2018 crop in Europe is creating further demand for U.S. products, but ongoing trade wars and a strong U.S. dollar have limited U.S. exports.
Strong domestic demand has also limited available export supplies.
https://potatocountry.com/2019/07/22/us-potato-exports-inch-upward/
**Looking to deliver on a 2018 promise, a proposed rule from the Trump administration seeks to update the way wage rates are determined for the H-2A guest worker program AND streamline other aspects of the program.
The Department of Labor will take comments on the nearly 500-page proposal until mid-September.
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue tells thepacker.com, the proposed rule will increase access to a reliable legal ag workforce, ease unnecessary burdens on farmers, and increase enforcement against fraud and abuse.
https://www.thepacker.com/article/updated-h-2a-regulatory-reform-proposal-finally-published?mkt/
**The July Cattle report shows the inventory of all cattle and calves in the U.S. was unchanged year over year at 103 million head as of July 1st.
Agweb.com reports, the inventory of beef cows was likewise unchanged at 32.4 million head while the dairy cow inventory was 9.3 million, down 1.1 percent.
Beef replacement heifers was down 4.3 percent at 4.4 million head and dairy replacement heifers were down 2.4 percent to 4.1 million head.
Inventory of bulls was unchanged.
https://www.agweb.com/article/us-cattle-inventory-reaches-plateau?mkt/