Ford CEO Jim Farley announced on Twitter Tuesday that the company would include AM radio as part of all newly manufactured vehicles in 2024. Farley says, “After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we’ve decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles.” Any owners of a Ford electric vehicle without AM broadcast capability will be offered the capability through a software update, according to the company.

The reversal follows action by lawmakers who introduced the AM for Every Vehicle Act last week, and opposition by broadcast associations. The National Association of Broadcasters, in a statement responded, “In light of Ford’s announcement, NAB urges other automakers who have removed AM radio from their vehicles to follow Ford’s lead.” The AM for Every Vehicle Act cited the importance of keeping communities informed during emergencies, particularly rural communities with a lack of other information resources.

A House subcommittee fight over fiscal year 2024 USDA and FDA spending touches on some of the same hurdles faced in last-minute talks to avoid a debt default and likely to spill over into the farm bill.

And in a GOP hunt for dollars likely to repeat in the farm bill pitting farm versus nutrition programs, the FY ’24 spending bill relies on unspent Biden pandemic funds. Republicans would cut another one billion in the USDA Secretary’s CCC spending authority and make other cuts in rural climate, electric coops and FSA loan forgiveness programs—also foreshadowing possible farm bill fights for scarce dollars.

And sends a clear signal the battle lines are drawn for a fight that started with the debt limit and will no doubt intensify with the farm bill.

The Department of Agriculture Monday announced an effort to help rural communities to address some of their immediate needs and foster long-term economic growth. USDA is providing loans and grants to help people living in rural and Tribal communities in the Rural Partners Network access good-paying jobs, improved infrastructure, affordable housing and quality health care. The funding will support 52 projects in Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, West Virginia and Puerto Rico.

In the West, the funding will help Tribal communities improve water and wastewater services and bring solar power and other forms of renewable energy to Tribal lands and farms. For people in Southern communities, projects will increase access to fresh foods in high-poverty areas and allow electric cooperatives to connect thousands of people to power with smart-grid technologies. The announcement includes $394 million in awards from USDA that will benefit communities and support their long-term visions for strong, local economies.

The American Farm Bureau Federation signed two more memoranda of understanding with two agricultural equipment manufacturers. The new MOUs were signed by AGCO and Kubota, providing farmers and ranchers the right to repair their own farm equipment. The MOUs, negotiated independently with each manufacturer, follow similar agreements AFBF entered into with John Deere and CNH Industrial Brands earlier this year.

The four MOUs cover roughly 70 percent of the agricultural machinery sold in the United States. AFBF President Zippy Duvall says, “These agreements represent ongoing efforts to ensure farmers have access to the tools necessary to keep their equipment running.” The MOUs set a framework for farmers and independent repair facilities in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico to access AGCO and Kubota manuals, tools, product guides and information to self-diagnose and self-repair machines, as well as support from the manufacturers to directly purchase or lease diagnostic tools and order products and parts.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service last week announced the finding of an atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (in-sef-o-lop-athy). The approximately five-year-old or older beef cow tested positive following routine surveillance protocols at a slaughterhouse in South Carolina. The animal possessed a radio frequency identification tag associated with a herd in Tennessee. USDA APHIS and state animal health officials will conduct a thorough investigation of the case.

Atypical BSE cases occur rarely and spontaneously, often in older cattle. This is only the nation’s 7th case of atypical BSE, following a previous incident in 2018. This is the nation’s 7th detection of BSE. Of the six previous U.S. cases, the first, in 2003, was a case of classical BSE in a cow imported from Canada; the rest have been atypical. U.S. Cattlemen’s Association president Justin Tupper responded, “This animal never entered slaughter channels and at no time entered the food supply chain due to the effectiveness of the surveillance team.”

New data from USDA’s Economic Research Service shows that less than one percent of farm estates created in 2022 must file an estate tax return. Created in 1916, the federal estate tax is a tax on the transfer of property to a person’s heirs upon death. In 2022, the Federal estate tax exemption amount was $12.06 million per person, and the federal estate tax rate was 40 percent.

Under the present law, the estate of a person who owns assets above the exemption amount at death must file a federal estate tax return. However, only returns with an estate above the exemption after deductions for expenses, debts, and bequests will pay federal estate tax. Researchers estimate that in 2022, 39,500 estates were created from principal operator deaths. Of those estates, ERS forecasts that 305, or 0.77 percent, will be required to file an estate tax return, and a further 87, or 0.22 percent, will likely owe Federal estate tax.

The Department of Agriculture recently announced assistance for dairy producers with the new Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program/ The program helps dairy producers mitigate market volatility, higher input and transportation costs, and unstable feed supply and prices that have created unique hardships in the organic dairy industry. USDA’s Farm Service Agency is offering $104 million in grants to dairy operations to assist with projected marketing costs in 2023, calculated using their marketing costs in 2022.

Organic dairy producers have faced significant and unique increases in their marketing costs, compounded by increases in feed and transportation costs and the limited availability of organic grain and forage commodities. FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux says, “Without assistance, many organic dairies, particularly small organic dairies, will cease production.” FSA will begin accepting applications for the program on May 24, 2023. Eligible producers include certified organic dairy operations that produce milk from cows, goats and sheep.

As Americans gear up for the start of the summer driving season with Memorial Day weekend, the nation’s average price of gasoline is unchanged from a week ago at $3.51 per gallon. The national average diesel price fell 3.2 cents last week and stands at $3.94 per gallon. GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan says, “We’ve seen more states see prices climb than fall, which has been driven by oil’s volatility as debt ceiling discussions are ongoing.” De Haan expects prices to rise slightly this week, especially if there are positive developments in the debt ceiling discussions.

With continued discussions about reaching a bipartisan agreement to raise the nation’s debt limit, the price of oil has remained somewhat volatile, given the economic repercussions that come with the situation. U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 1.1 percent last week, and the most common U.S. gas price was 3.39 per gallon, up ten cents from last week.

The 2023 Wheat Quality Council’s Winter Wheat Tour wrapped up last week with disappointing numbers. After scouting for three days, the tour calculated an average yield of 30 bushels per acre. While an estimated 8.1 million acres of wheat were planted last fall, the winter wheat crop has suffered from a multi-year drought that cut yields and resulted in abandoned fields in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

The official tour projection for the total production of wheat to be harvested in Kansas is 178 million bushels. Kansas Wheat says that number shows tour participants thought abandonment might be quite a bit higher than normal at almost 27 percent. The production number is the average of estimated predictions from tour participants who scouted 652 fields across the area. Based on May 1 conditions, NASS predicted the crop to be 191 million bushels, a yield of 29 bushels per acre, and abandonment at 18.5 percent.

The Army Corps of Engineers held a groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of repairs to a lock and dam on the Upper Mississippi River that’s crucial to shipping corn and other commodities. Lock and Dam 25, almost 50 miles north of St. Louis, hasn’t been extensively repaired since it was constructed in the early 20th century. Funding for the project was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Illinois Corn Growers Association, long at the forefront of advocating for updates to the Lock and Dam, applauded the development. “Our hope is this will be the beginning of a waterfall of infrastructure work on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers,” says ICGA President Matt Rush. Lock and Dam 25 is crucially important to corn growers as 60 percent of corn and soybean exports are transported on the Mississippi River. The river is important in shipping products both domestically and abroad.