California Almond Crop Estimates and USDA Farm to School Grants
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**California growers are expected to harvest 2.8 billion meat pounds of almonds this year, according to the USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service.
The 2024 California Almond report says that crop estimate is 13% higher than last year’s crop of 2.47 pounds but down 7% from the May forecast.
Almond Board of California CEO, Clarice Turner says that “reflects both a good bloom and hard work by California almond growers during trying times.”
**Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA is awarding a record-breaking $14.3 million in Farm to School Grants to 154 projects across the country.
These investments will help 1.9 million children eat more nutritious foods in school while supporting local farmers and producers.
Vilsack says when schools have access to fresh, local food options, they can serve delicious, healthy dishes that kids are excited to eat while also supporting the local economy.
**The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management’s “Conservation and Landscape Health” rule.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn the rule that threatens generations of family ranching operations by undermining the long-held balance of multiple-use management.
NCBA President Mark Eisele says this harmful rule only serves as a steppingstone to removing livestock grazing from our nation’s public lands.
