Top Agriculture News

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Power is still out for well over 1 million people in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina five days after Hurricane Helene tore down trees and destroyed much of the electric grid. The hardest hit areas are places like Augusta, Georgia, and the Greenville-Spartanburg area in South Carolina. In Augusta, lines for water and food stretched for over a half-mile. It’s taking so long to restore power because crews have to fix transmission lines, then fix substations, then fix the main lines into neighborhoods and business districts, and finally replace the poles on the street.

Raleigh, N.C. — Today, thirty-three lawmakers joined in a bipartisan push for disaster relief funding to prevent deep and lasting economic damage to the agricultural industry in the Southeastern United States. The bipartisan, bicameral group of 33 lawmakers from Southeastern states, including many North Carolina lawmakers, are urging Congressional Leadership to work with them and the Biden […]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas have started walking picket lines in a strike over wages and automation that could reignite inflation and cause shortages of goods if it goes on more than a few weeks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight, and even though progress was reported in talks on Monday, the workers went on strike early Tuesday. The strike is affecting 36 ports. The U.S. Maritime Alliance represents the ports and said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers, but when picket lines went up it was apparent there was no deal.

The devastation following Hurricane Helene in the mountains of North and South Carolina is almost without comparison. Many farms are simply gone after the area received more than 20 inches of rain in less than four days. Linda Pryor is a farmer in Henderson County, North Carolina. “We’ve had extreme devastation and still very cut […]

This is the SFN Market Report with Brooks Schaffer of Palmetto Grain. Reach him at [email protected] or 843-540-4540. Corn and soybeans had a strong day Friday capping off a good week for the bulls. Monday started off fairly quiet with mostly positioning ahead of the stocks report. The stocks report gives us the final old […]

Hurricane Helene walloped South Carolina last week. What were some of the effects on farms and agribusinesses, Commissioner? Well, we are still taking stock of the effects of this storm. The western part of the state was hit hardest. The strong winds downed trees and knocked out power for close to half the homes and […]

Well, we’re getting reports out of western North Carolina of the destruction across that region because of hurricane Helene. I am talking with Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler now, and Commissioner I know you have flown over the area this morning. What have you seen? “Around anything that flows water, there is mass destruction. And, you […]

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The death toll after Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction across the U.S. Southeast has reached at least 133. A crisis is unfolding in the mountains of western North Carolina, where water, food and other supplies are being airlifted into places cut off by mudslides and washed-out roads. Officials worry the death toll will rise further as searchers reach isolated areas. Nearly three dozen people have died in the county that includes the tourism hub of Asheville. The city’s water system has been severely damaged. Forecasters are keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Kirk, which is expected to become a powerful Atlantic hurricane this week.

As flooding and power outages persist in the wake of Hurricane Helene, officials are urging agricultural producers and industry stakeholders to contact their specific county emergency management officials for guidance regarding the storm’s impacts. A list of county contacts can be found here. Clemson University, South Carolina Department of Agriculture and South Carolina Department of Commerce […]

Key milk components required to produce cheese, butter and other dairy products keep growing while fluid milk production has steadily declined DENVER (September 30, 2024)—The U.S. dairy industry has long relied on monthly milk production data from the USDA to track the trajectory of milk supplies available for processing and to project potential dairy product output. […]