PJ Huffstutter
LightNews LightNews
banner
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
PJ Huffstutter
@pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
570 followers 100 following 110 posts
Reuters reporter covering agriculture & ag economy, working on a book about the US farm economy. Chicago-based. Posts=things I find interesting. Tips? DM or contact me on Signal.
Posts Replies Media Videos
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
@reuters.com Evelyn Hockstein & I spent a week in the state, reporting on how federal economic policy changes are impacting the nation’s farming and food systems. It's the latest in our narrative series, and what we found was really eye-opening.
www.reuters.com/investigates...
June 7, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by PJ Huffstutter
bergamax.bsky.social
Chris Judge’s “A Daily Cloud” project began in 2020, born from quiet days in the garden during lockdown. With simple lines and a touch of imagination, he turned everyday skies into playful scenes - one cloud at a time. [1/3]

Credits: adailycloud [FB]
#clouds #creative
May 22, 2025 at 8:26 AM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Ag story must-read: @reuters.com Heather Schlitz's fascinating tale about how the U.S.-China trade war has cost hog and cattle breeders a lucrative export market- and created an opportunity for farmers in Denmark to take market share. The headline is🔥!

www.reuters.com/world/china/...
Trump trade war costs US farmers lucrative Chinese export market for breeding pigs, cattle semen
China is one of the biggest importers of American breeding pigs and other livestock genetic material. These lucrative niche export markets had been growing, but have dried up since Trump started a trade war with Beijing.
www.reuters.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:56 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Farm loan employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency will now need approval from billionaire Elon Musk's DOGE to issue loans over $500,000, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The latest with Leah Douglas and myself on Reuters: www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
US farm agency to require DOGE approval for some loans
Farm loan employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency will now need approval from billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to issue loans over $500,000, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
www.reuters.com
April 30, 2025 at 10:08 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
A couple really terrific reads by @reuters.com's Lisa Baertlein that, if you track agriculture, you'll want to check out:

🧵 First up, this trucking story...

www.reuters.com/business/tru...
April 25, 2025 at 7:55 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Must-read @reuters.com agriculture story today: Julie Ingwersen headed to Kentucky for a story with Karl Plume about the impact of the trade war and historic flooding on commodity crop farmers.

www.reuters.com/world/us/ken...
Kentucky farmers hit by one-two punch of trade war, historic floods
Kentucky farmer Drew Langley got an early start planting soybeans this spring, hoping to boost yields to help soothe the sting of slumping prices after U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with China put demand from the world's top importer in doubt.
www.reuters.com
April 24, 2025 at 2:23 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
What's the impact of the Trump Administration slashing federal funding for ag research at land-grant and other universities - furthering the trend of cutting public backing for such work, at a time when rivals China and Brazil are doing the opposite? www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
April 17, 2025 at 3:34 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Yes, city folks, your grocery prices are going up over time - partly because retailers pass on higher overhead expenses (like rents). Given that commercial real estate could be recovering this year, will that result in even higher grocery prices?

Hat tip to USDA's Charts of Note team!
April 16, 2025 at 2:37 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Apologies for the radio-silence, been on the road for work and for some family stuff. So - a catch-up on this terrific read by @reuters.com' Tom Polansek about the plight of the U.S. sorghum farmer.
www.reuters.com/markets/comm...
Trump trade war dries up sorghum sales to China but US farmers plan to plant more
U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with China comes at a bad time for sorghum growers like Dan Atkisson in Kansas, who is nevertheless preparing to increase plantings by 25% this spring.
www.reuters.com
April 15, 2025 at 7:35 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Latest on @reuters.com by @leahjdouglas.bsky.social: The Trump administration has fired staff who were working on the Food and Drug Administration's bird flu response as part of its mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Exclusive: Trump health layoffs include staff overseeing bird flu response, source says
The Trump administration has fired staff who were working on the Food and Drug Administration's bird flu response as part of its mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a source familiar with the situation.
www.reuters.com
April 1, 2025 at 7:13 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
In West Virginia, where more than half the budget comes from federal funding, I spent a week following the story of a small farm / agriculture business to see how the Trump administration cuts are rippling across rural America. My lates on @reuters.com:

www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...
Trump funding cuts ripple through rural America
The phone rang over the whine of Trey Yates' butter churn. The person calling was polite, but the message was devastating: Mountaineer Food Bank was ending Yates' butter contract, due to the federal government's funding cuts.
www.reuters.com
March 31, 2025 at 3:57 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Fantastic read today by @reuters.com Marcelo Teixeira and Roberto Samora about circle irrigation pivot practices in Brazil's coffee farm fields due to rapid shifts in rainfall patterns. For U.S. grain farmers used to such systems, it's worth a read:

www.reuters.com/markets/comm...
Brazil's coffee farmers turn to costly irrigation to quench global demand for the brew
Drought hit coffee farmers in Brazil hard last year, drying up trees and driving global prices to record highs. But Rodrigo Brondani is expecting a bumper harvest.
www.reuters.com
March 31, 2025 at 3:49 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Before the Trump administration began, Trinity's Table deliveries of USDA-supplied food filled an 18-wheeler. Now, meal service to senior groups is at risk. My latest on the ripple effects of federal cuts with @leahjdouglas.bsky.social & @reneehickman.bsky.social

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Trump cuts hit struggling food banks, risking hunger for low-income Americans
Food banks across the country, already strained by rising demand, say they will have less food to distribute because of at least $1 billion in federal funding cuts and pauses by the Trump administration, according to Reuters interviews with organizations in seven states.
www.reuters.com
March 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by PJ Huffstutter
leahjdouglas.bsky.social
First in @reuters.com: Democratic senators are planning a letter to USDA's Brooke Rollins asking her to reinstate two local food programs that the agency cancelled.

The programs have spent more than $2 billion on local food purchases.

www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
US senators to urge USDA to reinstate canceled local food programs
Democrats in the U.S. Senate will ask the Department of Agriculture to reverse the cancellation of programs that have funneled more than $2 billion for local food purchases to schools and food banks, according to a copy of a letter seen by Reuters.
www.reuters.com
March 13, 2025 at 4:23 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
USDA has suspended funding for research and programs at the University of Maine, after President Donald Trump clashed with Governor Janet Mills over the state's refusal to ban transgender athletes from girls' sports. The latest from @reuters.com:

www.reuters.com/world/us/usd...
USDA suspends Maine university funding after Trump row over transgender athletes
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended funding for research and programs at the University of Maine, the school said on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump clashed with Governor Janet Mills over the state's refusal to ban transgender athletes from girls' sports.
www.reuters.com
March 12, 2025 at 2:44 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
"As the president said, farmers need to start growing crops to sell here in the U.S. This is what we are trying to do. We just need our approved grant funding to be released." My latest on @reuters.com with @leahjdouglas.bsky.social & Tom Polansek:

www.reuters.com/world/us/far...
Farmers put plans, investments on hold under Trump USDA spending freeze
Nate Powell-Palm, an organic farmer outside Belgrade, Montana, was relying on a $648,000 grant from USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service to help build a feed mill - an economic lifeline for about 150 area organic grain farmers.
www.reuters.com
March 10, 2025 at 2:42 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
With only weeks until spring planting, Canadian and U.S. farmers, already facing low grain prices, are bracing for another economic blow: even bigger fertilizer bills amid a North American trade war. The latest from @reuters.com Ed White (I edited!)

www.reuters.com/markets/comm...
US, Canadian farmers face soaring fertilizer prices amid Trump trade war
With only weeks until spring planting on both sides of the border gets underway, Canadian and U.S. farmers, already facing low grain prices, are bracing for another economic blow: even bigger fertilizer bills amid a North American trade war.
www.reuters.com
March 7, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by PJ Huffstutter
ianberry.bsky.social
weekly U.S. Drought Monitor for the Midwest
March 6, 2025 at 6:35 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Canada has suspended imports from the biggest U.S. pork processing plant, a facility run by Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel, North Carolina, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture website. On the @reuters.com wire now by Tom Polansek - more coming soon.
March 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
The "free school lunch" history is fascinating: Started in the 1940s by Truman, in response to claims that many American men had been rejected for WW2 military service because of diet-related health problems. Hat tip to USDA ERS team's Charts of Note: www.ers.usda.gov/data-product...
March 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
Shout-out to @leahjdouglas.bsky.social being interviewed on @npr.org about bird flu!

www.npr.org/2025/03/02/n...
USDA plan to combat bird flu includes almost $1 billion in subsidies to help farmers
The U.S. Agricultural Department has announced a new effort to fight bird flu. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Leah Douglas, agriculture and energy reporter at Reuters, about the $1 billion plan.
www.npr.org
March 6, 2025 at 5:28 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
If you read one ag-news story today, I'd really recommend Agripulse's Noah Wicks's piece on the impact of USDA's NRCS staffing cuts, and the ripple effects felt on the ground. Some offices are "effectively shuttered".

www.agri-pulse.com/articles/224....
Workforce cutbacks strip many NRCS offices of staff
Buyouts and firings have shrunken staffs at USDA field offices as the Trump administration works to downsize the federal workforce. Leases for some locations will soon be terminated.
www.agri-pulse.com
March 5, 2025 at 8:21 PM
pjhuffstutter.bsky.social
SEEKING URGENT HELP: I am trying to get in touch with folks from the USDA forest service crews fighting the fires in the Carolinas - or those who know how to reach them. My dms here should be open, or you can email me at pj.huffstutter@tr.com (or I'm on Signal @pjhuffstutter.49) Can you help me?
March 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by PJ Huffstutter
leahjdouglas.bsky.social
On tariffs, Rollins said Trump's "message to me within minutes of being sworn in and his message, frankly, to the ag community is ‘trust me.' At the end of the process, hopefully sooner rather than later, we will be ushering in an era of prosperity for our farmers and ranchers.”
March 4, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by PJ Huffstutter
leahjdouglas.bsky.social
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, speaking to reporters in DC, said Trump's message to farmers concerned about a trade war is, "trust me."
March 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM