The Philippines Committee on Tariff and Related Matters approved an extension of current duties on imported pork through the end of the year. The CTRM is an interagency committee that advises President Rodrigo Duterte. 

The Philippines' in-quota tariff rate for imported pork muscle cuts is 30%, but currently is 15% under a temporary reduction. The out-of-quota rate is currently 25%, down from the normal rate of 40%. The lower rates expire on May 17 unless President Duterte extends them through an executive order. 

White House announces hunger conference
President Joe Biden announced that the White House will host a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health this September. The goal of the conference is to develop solutions to "End hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030, so fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity and hypertension."

The first White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health was held by President Richard Nixon in 1969. This conference resulted in an expansion of the school lunch program and the food stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The establishment of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children was a result of the conference. 

Corn planting behind
USDA's May 1 planting estimates shows the impact this year's cold and rainy spring is having on corn planting. USDA is estimating that only 14% of the U.S. corn crop had been planted compared to 42% last year.  The five-year average is 33%. This is the slowest planting rate since 2013.

According to USDA's planting estimates, major corn states are behind with only 7% of the corn acres planted in Illinois, compared to the five-year average of 43%. Iowa is currently at 9% compared to 42%, Minnesota at 0% compared to 28%, Missouri at 27% compared to 52%, Indiana at 6% compared to 25%, Ohio at 3% compared to 16%, South Dakota at 3% compared to 13% and Nebraska at 28% compared to 34%. 

Texas and North Carolina are currently at or above the five-year average.

USDA estimates that 8% of the U.S. soybean crop has been planted, comparted to a five-year average of 13%. 

USDA accepts 2 million acres in CRP
USDA announced it is accepting more than 2 million acres into the Conservation Reserve Program through this year's general signup. There are currently 22.1 million acres enrolled in CRP, with 3.4 million acres expiring this year. 

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is urging landowners to consider the grassland and continuous signups which are currently open for enrollment. Vilsack said in a press release, "Our conservation programs are voluntary, and at the end of the day, producers are making market-based decisions as the program was designed to allow and encourages. We recognize the Conservation Reserve Program is an important tool in helping mitigate climate change and conserve natural resources, and this announcement is just the first opportunity for producers to take advantage of the program. Producers are still looking at options under the working-lands Grassland Conservation Reserve Program, the more targeted buffer-type practices under Continuous CRP, and partnership opportunities through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)."

CRP is currently capped at 25.5 million acres in 2022 and 27 million in 2023. 

House Ag Committee member named NY Lt. Governor – New York Governor Kathy Hochul has selected Congressman Antonio Delgado (D-NY) to serve as New York's Lt. Governor. Delgado was first elected to Congress in 2018 and currently serves on the House Agriculture Committee and serves as chair of the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit. Hochul named Delgado as result of the former lieutenant governor having to step down for legal reasons. 

Source: P. Scott Shearer, who is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset. The opinions of this writer are not necessarily those of Farm Progress/Informa.