American Farm Bureau Federation

The Global Micro Lending Market size is expected to reach $65.4 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 12.8% CAGR during the forecast period

Retrieved on: 
Monday, November 28, 2022

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK, Nov. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Micro Lending Market size is expected to reach $65.4 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 12.8% CAGR during the forecast period.
  • The process of giving small loans, or microloans, to proprietors of small businesses is known as micro lending.
  • There are a variety of reasons why a borrower could need money, all of which are disclosed to prospective lenders.
  • On the basis of end user, the micro lending market is divided into solo entrepreneurs & individuals and micro, small & medium enterprises.

Farm Bureau: Thanksgiving Dinner Cost Up 20%

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, November 16, 2022

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Farm Bureau's 37th annual survey reveals the average cost of this year's classic Thanksgiving feast for 10 is $64.05, less than $6.50 per person.

Key Points: 
  • WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Farm Bureau's 37th annual survey reveals the average cost of this year's classic Thanksgiving feast for 10 is $64.05, less than $6.50 per person.
  • The centerpiece on most Thanksgiving tables the turkey costs more than last year, at $28.96 for a 16-pound bird.
  • This means consumers who have not yet purchased a turkey should be able to find one at a lower cost than the Farm Bureau average.
  • "General inflation slashing the purchasing power of consumers is a significant factor contributing to the increase in average cost of this year's Thanksgiving dinner," said AFBF Chief Economist Roger Cryan.

Socially Responsible Agriculture Project Affirms Support of Laws that Create Market Opportunities for Independent Family Farmers, As U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on California’s Prop 12

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Prop 12 set standards regarding how pork and other foods sold in the state of California are produced, creating important market opportunities for independent family farmers.

Key Points: 
  • Prop 12 set standards regarding how pork and other foods sold in the state of California are produced, creating important market opportunities for independent family farmers.
  • The brief also demonstrates how Californias Proposition 12 benefits independent and sustainable U.S. farmers.
  • Prop 12 recognizes that the market for sustainably raised pork is growing, and fosters healthy competition and economic opportunities for small, independent farmers.
  • SRAP and its partners believe laws like Prop 12, that disrupt the stranglehold agribusiness has on the industry, will create opportunities for Americas independent family farmers.

New undercover investigation at a pig farm reveals cruelty the industry is fighting to keep

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 4, 2022

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercy For Animals on Tuesday released a new undercover investigation exposing the cruelty of gestation crates, metal enclosures used to contain mother pigs during their pregnancies. The never-before-seen footage reveals the horror of these crates just as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, the pork industry's challenge to California's 2018 ballot initiative that provides more space to calves, pigs, and hens and bans the sale of veal, pork, and egg products from animals in cramped confinement, such as mother pigs in gestation crates.

Key Points: 
  • They repeatedly bite the bars of their cages, a sign of serious mental collapse.
  • Sick and injured pigs, some with bloody wounds from cage bars, left to suffer without proper veterinary care.
  • Keeping highly intelligent, social animals confined for nearly their entire lives in cages so cramped they can't even turn around is blatant cruelty.
  • That's why we are urging Congress to add protections for pigs and other farmed animals to the upcoming Farm Bill."

National Black Farmers President Boyd's Official Statement on President Biden's Failure to Execute Presidential All-Inclusive Farm Foreclosure Moratorium

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 21, 2022

BOYDTON, Va., Sept. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- President Biden and his team in the White House must take personal responsibility for this new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) now law. The President's legacy – and the future of thousands of Black, Native American and other farmers of color – hangs in the balance. Once again, I urge President Biden to honor his commitments to us and those thousands of Black, Native American and other farmers of color who are being forced into bankruptcy and foreclosure. I will be in Sumpter, SC at a Black Farmer foreclosure hearing on October 4, 2022. Where will the elected officials be that repealed the American Rescue Plan Act, Section 1005, Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color that provided 120% debt relief for this farmer and others?

Key Points: 
  • The President's legacy and the future of thousands of Black, Native American and other farmers of color hangs in the balance.
  • I'm calling on President Biden to issue an all-inclusive moratorium protecting all USDA and private agricultural loans from farm foreclosures TODAY."
  • John Boyd, Jr., President, National Black Farmers Association
    "President Biden must move quickly to protect Black Farmers now that he has repealed promised debt relief for Black farmers provided in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 because white farmers were claiming reverse discrimination.
  • ( https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/18161-vilsack-usda-may-take-stepped-... )
    We call upon our fellow farmers, neighbors and friends to join John Boyd in his call for President Joe Biden to issue an All-Inclusive Farm Foreclosure Moratorium to save American Farmers.

Socially Responsible Agriculture Project Submits Amicus Brief to U.S. Supreme Court Supporting California’s Prop 12

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP), on behalf of 17 organizations across the country, filed an Amicus Brief with the U.S. Supreme Court highlighting the connection between growing consolidation and anticompetitive behavior rampant in the food system.

Key Points: 
  • Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP), on behalf of 17 organizations across the country, filed an Amicus Brief with the U.S. Supreme Court highlighting the connection between growing consolidation and anticompetitive behavior rampant in the food system.
  • The Amicus Brief demonstrates how Californias Proposition 12 benefits independent and sustainable U.S. farmers.
  • SRAPs Amicus Brief challenges the position of the National Pork Producers and American Farm Bureau Federation, who oppose Prop 12 because it will disrupt the market control of the multinational meatpackers they represent.
  • This filing with the court points out that many farmers were already compliant with Prop 12 before it passed, and others have invested to become compliant.

Physicians Group Files U.S. Supreme Court Brief in Favor of California’s Proposition 12

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 16, 2022

The physicians brief argues that Proposition 12 advances a legitimate local health or safety interest and provides abundant evidence that the measure is in the best interest of public health.

Key Points: 
  • The physicians brief argues that Proposition 12 advances a legitimate local health or safety interest and provides abundant evidence that the measure is in the best interest of public health.
  • If Proposition 12 is upheld, fewer antibiotics will ultimately be used in pigs, and antibiotic resistance in humans may be mitigated.
  • Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the national farming groups pleas to strike down Proposition 12 in 2021.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the case on Oct. 11.

Massachusetts State Law Delay Keeps Breakfast on the Table

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 11, 2022

The suit also asks the court to find the law unconstitutional.

Key Points: 
  • The suit also asks the court to find the law unconstitutional.
  • The state law, known as Question 3 (Q3), was a 2016 Massachusetts ballot initiative set to go into effect on Aug. 15, 2022.
  • Going further than Prop 12, the Massachusetts law would not allow the transshipment of whole pork through the state jeopardizing an estimated $2 billion worth of pork that moves into neighboring New England states.
  • Pig farmers and swine veterinarians are in the best position to make decisions about how to care for their animals.

Funding Circle, Farm Bureau Bank® Collaborate to Boost Small Business Lending

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 11, 2022

Funding Circle , a leading online small business lending platform, and Farm Bureau Bank , a financial institution focused on serving members of the Farm Bureau and their neighbors in rural communities, have announced a partnership to provide capital to small business owners from all walks of life, including the agricultural community, across the country.

Key Points: 
  • Funding Circle , a leading online small business lending platform, and Farm Bureau Bank , a financial institution focused on serving members of the Farm Bureau and their neighbors in rural communities, have announced a partnership to provide capital to small business owners from all walks of life, including the agricultural community, across the country.
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220811005064/en/
    The partnership enables Farm Bureau Bank to purchase loans originated through Funding Circle, marking another step forward in a growing collaboration between Funding Circle and the banking community.
  • The partnership combines the financial strength and longstanding client relationships of Farm Bureau Bank with the risk models powered by Funding Circles world-class machine learning and technology platform to deliver high-quality loan products to small business owners.
  • The collaboration between Funding Circle and Farm Bureau Bank will help mitigate the challenges that many small business owners face when seeking access to working capital for their business.

Cost of July 4th Cookout 17% Higher Compared to Year Ago

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 27, 2022

The average cost of a summer cookout for 10 people is $69.68 or less than $7 per person.

Key Points: 
  • The average cost of a summer cookout for 10 people is $69.68 or less than $7 per person.
  • The overall cost is up 17% or about $10 from last year, a result of ongoing supply chain disruptions, inflation and the war in Ukraine.
  • "Despite higher food prices, the supply chain disruptions and inflation have made farm supplies more expensive; like consumers, farmers are price-takers not price-makers," Cryan said.
  • "Bottom line, in many cases the higher prices farmers are being paid aren't covering the increase in their farm expenses.