Aside from the data, USDEC says numerous exporters have talked of lost contracts, expectations of losing contracts and adjusting prices lower to hold onto market share. U.S. dairy exports in July were seasonably lower and the lowest since January, but they were still ahead of year-ago levels.Suppliers shipped 170,100 tons of milk powders, cheese, butterfat, whey and lactose, up 11 percent over July 2017. Those exports were worth $434 million, a 3 percent increase over a year earlier, U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Reports from the Federal Reserve Districts suggested that the economy expanded at a moderate pace through the end of August. Dallas reported relatively brisk growth, while Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Kansas City indicated somewhat below average growth. Consumer spending continued to grow at a modest pace since the last report, and tourism activity expanded, to varying degrees, across the nation. Manufacturing activity grew at a moderate rate in most Districts, though St. Louis described business as little changed and Richmond reported a decline in activity. [node:read-more:link]

The UK government plans to introduce a seven-year transition period for farmers’ funding from 2021, during which direct payments from the state will be reduced and tied more closely to delivering environmental and other “public” goods. The Environmental Land Management scheme will replace EU basic farm payments, which are based on the amount of land farmed, under which farmers who provide the greatest environmental benefit will receive the largest amount of public money. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. consumers are increasingly scanning labels to check that products do not contain certain ingredients, such as gluten, GMOs, antibiotics, pesticides and allergens, according to Bloomberg. The trend is having a huge impact on how manufacturers source, prepare and package foods and beverages. Sales of these "free-from" foods are expected to grow 15%, or $1.4 billion, between 2017 and 2022 — with the U.S. as the largest global growth market, according to Euromonitor data. [node:read-more:link]

ABOUT 1 IN 6 PEOPLE – and 1 in 4 children – in Arkansas struggled with food insecurity in 2016, helping to make it one of America's hungriest states.Count Sandra Reed and her two teenage children among them."It's hard to live day by day," Reed says. "You have to make sure you can pay bills, and you have to have transportation to get back and forth (to work). [node:read-more:link]

The US Department of Agriculture projected Tuesday domestic corn stocks at the end of the 2018-2019 marketing year, which closes August 31, 2019, to be at 1.774 billion bushels (45.062 million mt), down 228 million bushels from its 2017-2018 estimates of 2.002 billion bushels but up 90 million bushels from its prior forecast for the period.USDA's domestic corn stocks estimates for the next marketing year was within the top end of the range of analysts' expectations of 1.477 to 1.785 billion bushels, but above the average analysts' expectations of 1.693 billion bushel, sources said.The incre [node:read-more:link]

Iowa landowners’ constitutional rights were violated when a Texas company used state-approved authority to seize their property to build an underground oil pipeline that had no public use because the interstate project did not service Iowans directly, a lawyer argued.  Bill Hanigan, a Des Moines lawyer representing landowners in six counties, asked the Iowa Supreme Court to reverse a district court decision by ruling the state abused its eminent domain “police power” in allowing invalid land takings. [node:read-more:link]

When Alamance County passed a resolution last week against a proposal to expand the Mountain Valley Pipeline into north central North Carolina, it became the first county in the state to formally voice opposition to an interstate gas pipeline. “We’re plowing new ground,” said Commissioner Bob Byrd after the unanimous vote. [node:read-more:link]

The state of Minnesota and nearly a dozen other government entities will use a collaborative buying approach to build 4 megawatts of on-site solar. Called “Solar Possible,” the initiative used a master contract and a joint request for proposals to select vendors and gather pricing data. [node:read-more:link]