Agribusiness Update for Monday 02/15/16

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told lawmakers Thursday establishing a USDA office in Cuba is his top funding priority. Vilsack testified before the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and during his opening statement said "I start off hoping you will take seriously our request to have a physical presence in Cuba." Vilsack called Cuba a market American agriculture should dominate and hinted that USDA personnel on the ground in Cuba could help answer questions regarding U.S. products, potentially boosting sales.

USDA says demand is strong for the Conservation Reserve Program, adding this will be one of the most competitive general sign-up periods in history, in part due to a statutory limit on the number of acres that can be enrolled in the program. The sign-up deadline is February 26th. Submissions will be ranked according to environmental benefits in comparison to all other offers nationwide. As of January, 23.6 million acres were enrolled in CRP, with contracts for more than 1.6 million acres set to expire this fall.

That's today's Agribusiness Update from the Ag Information Network of the West.