Farm Groups Tariff Warning and California Almond's Rat Infestation
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**Farm groups are warning the White House that the tariff war is making already high fertilizer prices worse.
Politico said ag industry representatives have hesitated to publicly criticize President Trump’s tariff policies, but some have spent recent months quietly lobbying lawmakers and administration officials.
Since the president took office, the average tariff rate on all the key farmer inputs jumped from 0.9% to 12.2%, with some as high as 20% or more.
**Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a new directive prioritizing land use efficiency when evaluating proposals for power generation projects on National Forest Lands.
The policy strengthens American energy production and reduces reliance on energy sources from foreign adversaries.
The Forest Service will develop new screening criteria to measure and prioritize the amount of energy produced per acre of land while ensuring projects are consistent with environmental stewardship, multiple-use principles, and economic benefits.
**California’s Central Valley produces a large number of almonds, and that area is being invaded by rats.
A newsletter from the Almond Board of California says a major rat infestation has caused potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in damage over the past year and could get worse without intervention.
California grows all the nation’s commercially-produced almonds, an 75% of the world’s almonds.
