Domestic Fertilizer Production and China Blocks Certain U.S. Beef
**The USDA announced it is investing $83 million in domestic fertilizer production in hopes of spurring economic growth in rural communities and increasing competition in agricultural markets.
The funding from the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program includes a $25 million grant to build and equip a food waste upcycling facility in Riverside County that will use insects to recycle food waste into organic nutrient fertilizer.
Similar projects are happening in 12 states.
**Meat processor JBS says China blocked shipments from the company’s Colorado plant because traces of ractopamine, a feed additive, were found in beef headed to China.
The Poultry Site says Brazil-based JBS, the world’s biggest meat processor, announced in a statement that it’s working with U.S. and Chinese authorities to resolve the situation.
No other JBS beef facilities in the U.S. have been impacted by the Chinese announcement.
**With FDA approval in hand, Elanco Animal Health announced it will sell throughout North America its feed ingredient, Bovaer, that reduces methane emissions from lactating dairy cows by 30%, beginning in the third quarter of the year.
www.agriculture.com reports, farmers could use carbon contracts to offset the cost of the ingredient.
Agriculture is responsible for roughly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and methane accounts for 40% of agricultural emissions.
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