Disaster Relief for Hurricane Victims and Generic Pesticides Cheaper
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**The White House is asking for $98.6 billion in emergency disaster relief funding following multiple hurricanes this fall.
Roll Call says the administration wants a comprehensive package that extends back to unmet needs from prior disasters.
$40 billion would restore the Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s dwindling fund for immediate disaster responses, and $21 billion would allow USDA to compensate farmers and ranchers for crop and livestock losses.
**Cox Farms, a recently launched subsidiary of telecommunications conglomerate Cox Enterprises, says it is now the largest indoor farming operator in North America following its latest acquisition of a greenhouse facility in Canada.
Cox-owned Mucci Farms added to its footprint with the acquisition of Greenhill Produce, a nearly 150-acre bell pepper facility in Ontario.
The purchase gives Cox Farms more than 700 acres of greenhouse space across its two brands, Mucci Farms, and leafy greens grower BrightFarms.
**U.S. farmers struggling with slumping incomes and depressed grain prices have been switching to cheaper generic pesticides and fungicides as they plan for spring planting.
Market analysts say that could hit the bottom lines of agrichemical companies with signs already emerging.
Bayer shares fell to a 20-year low last week, and analysts say agrichemical competitors Syngenta, Corteva, and BASF could also face challenges in the sector.
