Ag News: Compostable Produce Stickers and U.S. Drought Monitor
**The USDA reports a French law banning produce stickers that aren’t compostable are a threat to millions in U.S. produce exports.
www.thepacker.com reports, starting January 1st, a French ban on the sales of fruit and vegetables with identifying stickers could impact the export of U.S. sweet potatoes by about $20 million in annual sales, and grapefruit by about $8 million.
The Produce Marketing Association is confident we’ll eventually develop a fully functional home compostable PLU label, but it’s 3-5 years away.
**Weekly data from USDA’s Ag Marketing Service suggests the peak in fed cattle numbers is in and numbers should
decline.
Specifically, according to www.drovers.com, carcass weights declined 4 pounds to 859, shifting national grading percentages lower.
Weekly Prime grading reached 12.5% this spring, and June saw the first slip below 10% Prime in 21 weeks.
That trend corresponds with some increase in Select grading over the same time period.
www.drovers.com/news/beef-production/declining-weights-grades-suggest-fewer-front-end-cattle?mkt
**Are drought conditions affecting your agricultural operation?
Find out online at the U.S. Drought Monitor, a resource producers can use to help determine how to best respond
and react during a drought.
The USDM is a weekly map showing the location, extent, and severity of drought across the country that categorizes the entire country in one of six levels of drought.
An updated map is released every Thursday.
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