Reducing Heat Impacts and Ag Trade Deficit Higher
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**California farmers are working to reduce impacts of summer heat that’s increased their costs and jeopardized production.
With triple-digit temperatures pummeling the state’s key agricultural regions, topping 110 degrees in some areas, farmers are irrigating fields more frequently, deploying misters and fans to cool livestock and shortening daytime work or working after sundown.
Some dairy farmers say milk production can drop 15% to 20% during peak heat days.
**USDA recently expanded its Nursery Value Select Crop Insurance Program to ALL counties in ALL states.
The Risk Management Agency is encouraging interested nursery producers to learn more about the program through an informational workshop which will be held this Thursday at 2pm Central, 11am Pacific time.
Nursery Value Select is a pilot program enabling nursery producers to select the dollar amount of coverage that best fits their needs.
For more, go to www.usda.gov .
**The agricultural trade deficit, the value of exports versus imports, increased in the first eight months of the fiscal year.
USDA says the deficit is at $15.2 billion so far in the 2023-24 marketing year that runs through September.
From October through the end of May, exporters shipped $122.3 billion worth of ag products, while importers brought in $137.6 billion in goods.
Last year’s ag deficit totaled a record $17.2 billion.
