Insights and Stories of Charles Abbott

Jan. 11, 2012 at 3:20 pm CST

The U.S. Agriculture Department plans to close 249 offices this year — half of them the local offices that deal with farmers — in a cost-cutting program, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Monday. USDA says the package will save $150 million a year and help reduce the yawning federal deficit. […]

By Charles Abbott

Dec. 9, 2011 at 5:49 pm CST

The world is harvesting its largest-ever wheat, corn and rice crops this year, easing tight supplies that drove world food prices to record levels earlier this year, the U.S. government forecast on Friday. With the abundant harvests, including a record wheat crop in Australia, world stockpiles will gain a modest […]

By Charles Abbott

Oct. 12, 2011 at 4:24 pm CDT

World grain supplies will be much healthier next year than previously forecast, the U.S. government said in a report that could put further pressure on crop prices that have already tumbled from their peaks. Apart from an unexpectedly deep cut to its forecast of U.S. soybean stockpiles, the U.S. Department […]

By Charles Abbott

Jan. 10, 2011 at 3:42 pm CST

(Reuters) — A direct payment subsidy that guarantees U.S. farmers $5 billion a year is the most prominent target in agriculture’s complex web of subsidies as budget-cutting Republicans flex their new legislative muscle in the House of Representatives. Created in 1996, the subsidy is a point of dispute in farm […]

By Charles Abbott