Jim Wiesemeyer

Jim Wiesemeyer was a Pro Farmer contributor as the Washington Bureau Chief. His columns provided expertise and insight on farm policy, trade policy and Washington politics.

Latest Stories
On Monday the People’s Bank of China also announced a 0.1 percentage point cut to two of its key policy rates. It acted after GDP grew by more than 8% in 2021, but slowed down in the fourth quarter.
Senate leadership’s timeline for the BBB proposal is just before Christmas, according to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin is calling for a strategic pause for the vote, delaying it into 2022.
Net cash farm income, which tracks producers’ cash flow, is forecast by USDA at $134.7B for 2021. That number is up $6.4B from February’s forecast and would be an increase of 21.5% from 2020’s $110.9B.
More than $1 billion in payments will be released over the next several weeks for producers with approved applications for the QLA Program and for producers who have already received payments through WHIP+.
Secretary Vilsack flatly denied there is any effort by President Biden to reduce meat consumption to meet proposed cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. “Sometimes in the political world, games get played,” he said.
On a day when U.S. corn futures went limit-up on supply and demand concerns, Washington talked about idling millions of additional lands via various programs.
Brazil’s soybean growers association, APROSOJA, has reportedly requested that their government consider filing a WTO case against the U.S. soybean crop insurance program.
Study offers suggestions for the future, but no evidence why traders have badly missed some USDA data
Interest rates on commodity loans disbursed in September will carry an interest rate of 1.375%, up from 1.250% in August, according to USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).
FDA cautions in interpretation of antimicrobial resistance data.