Biden review of USDA may have a climate mitigation perspective

https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/biden-review-of-usda-may-have-a-climate-mitigation-perspective

• President-elect Joe Biden’s focus during his transition to the white house has come down to four main issues: Covid-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change.
• Agriculture has been a key topic associated with climate change. Biden’s transition team stated that Biden wants to create jobs in climate-smart agriculture, resilience, and conservation.
  • They believe the country is in a profound crisis, and now is the time to build a more resilient, sustainable economy- one that will put the U.S. on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.
• According to the Washington Post, Biden is ready to implement climate change throughout the federal government. The newspaper said the transition team is considering ideas such as the creation of a “carbon bank” at the USDA to pay farm and forest owners to store carbon in their soils.
• Biden’s USDA review team is made up seventeen individuals and at least eight of those are veterans of the Obama era.
  • The group has stated that the Biden administration plans to develop policy recommendations that incorporate agriculture and forestry as part of climate mitigation and shift the U.S. toward a low-carbon future.
• During the Obama administration, many farm groups felt they were slighted in favor of the producers of organic and local food. Due to this, the administration’s relations with farm groups were hostile during his years in office.
• Biden is still considering who he will appoint to Secretary of Agriculture.
  • Ohio Representative, Marcia Fudge said last week she would be honored to serve as Biden’s agriculture secretary. Fudge would be the first black woman to hold the cabinet post if chosen.
  • Former North Dakota Senator, Heidi Heitkamp has been the most frequently mentioned contender for the role.

China finds coronavirus on packaging of Brazilian beef

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-beef/china-finds-coronavirus-on-packaging-of-brazilian-beef-idUSKBN27T0J0

• On Friday, the Chinese city of Wuhan detected coronavirus on the packaging of a batch of Brazilian beef from Marfrig Global Foods. This comes at a time when the country has increased their testing of frozen foods in a nationwide effort.
• The boneless Brazilian beef entered the country at Qingdao port on August 7^th and it reached Wuhan on August 17^th, where it was placed in a cold storage facility until this week.
• China began testing imported foods in June in hopes of reducing the spread of the virus.
• Chinese authorities also found the virus on a package of Argentina beef last week, along with another imported beef sample that tested positive.
• China is the world’s top beef buyer and Brazil and Argentina are its major suppliers.

Beef export sales highlights

https://www.nationalbeefwire.com/export-sales-highlights

• Last week beef net sales of 14,300 metric tons were reported down 30 percent compared to the previous week and down 23 percent from the prior four-week average.
• Beef exports of 14,200 metric tons were down 34 percent from the previous week and down 22 percent from the prior four-week average.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $225.98 (-0.52)
• Select boxed beef: $209.46 (+1.22)