Feds to provide food stamps for Arizonans
Agriculture Department officials Tuesday approved emergency food stamp aid for people who have suffered losses due to wildfire spreading throughout Arizona.
Apache and Navajo counties have been declared eligible for federal disaster aid, along with one Indian reservation.
"Arizona is enduring the worst forest fires in years which have impacted communities and displaced many families from their homes," said Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.
"These emergency food stamps will provide additional assistance to help these families who have suffered losses due to the fires."
Aid comes from the Disaster Food Stamp Program, which provides aid in obtaining food to people who suffer due to severe winter storms, forest fires, tornadoes and flooding disasters.
The program provides food stamps to help pay for groceries, along with providing commodity foods for shelters and other mass meal sites. It also distributes commodity food packages directly to households in need.
People who live in 15 towns in the two Arizona counties can apply for disaster food stamps at eight evacuation centers.
Residents who normally do not qualify for food stamps may qualify temporarily if their homes or belongings were destroyed or damaged, and if they have disaster-related expenses.
Loss of income, food or money as a result of the wildfires also can help a person qualify for aid.
Under the program, a family of four could qualify for as much as $452 per month in emergency food stamps.
People in the area who already were included in the food stamp program will have their monthly total automatically increased during July to bring them up to the maximum disaster food stamp allotment for the month.
People will receive additional food stamp aid through the Arizona QUEST debit card program.
Cotton:
Increased world cotton prices may wind up helping cotton farmers in the Rio Grande Valley in selling their crop.
The recent increase from 38.93 cents per pound in early May to 45.10 cents per pound occurred because of word the cotton crop in China suffered major damage due to flooding.
Officials told the High Plains Journal the flooding could force China to import significant amounts of cotton to meet needs rather than relying on domestic crops. That could benefit cotton farmers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"We could be in for some major positive changes since China is responsible for the glut in the market that has kept prices so low for so many years," said entomologist John Norman of Texas A&M University.
Food shortage:
Racial politics in Zimbabwe is resulting in a food shortage, with blacks and whites placing blame on each other for the problem.
Supermarkets in Harare note that bread is running out. Bakers tell the London Telegraph they are short of flour, have no salt and are running low on wheat, which is expected to be depleted by mid-July. People in Zimbabwe also have had to do without maize meal, a staple food of the locals.
Whites blame the food shortages on the new policies of President Robert Mugabe, who is trying to shift control of the economy to the black majority. Black officials accuse white farmers of deliberately exacerbating the food shortage to try to make them look bad.
Emergency hay:
Agriculture Department officials are permitting emergency haying of land covered under the Conservation Reserve Program in hopes of dealing with drought conditions across the United States.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said emergency haying would provide forage for livestock and help farmers in areas most severely hit by drought.
Thirty-three counties in Montana and 28 in South Dakota were affected by the decision, along with selected counties in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Mexico.
Tree pests:
Ohio State University entomologists are trying to figure out how to control one of the most economically damaging insect pests in Ohio's nursery industry.
White pine weevils have become a bigger problem in recent years, threatening tree nurseries in Ohio and timber industries in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Researchers are experimenting with soil-applied systemic insecticides and tree guards, noting that the weevils have expanded from threatening only Christmas trees to nurseries across the state.
Grains:
Grain futures were mostly lower at the close Tuesday on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Soybeans fell on profit-taking following more than a week of solid gains.
Corn fell on the influence of soybeans and on questions about how much longer intensely hot weather conditions can last in the Corn Belt.
Wheat was mixed with nearbys gaining on damage from hot weather but other conducts falling on the cancellation of a 100,000-metric-ton sale of hard red spring wheat to China.
Oats fell on negative influence from soybeans and corn.
The prices:
Soybeans: Jul 5.44 1/4 off 5 1/4, Aug 5.31 off 9 1/4, Sep 5.19 1/4 off 7 1/4, Nov 5.09 off 9 3/4.
Corn: Jul 2.27 3/4 off 5, Sep 2.35 1/2 off 5, Dec 2.46 off 5 1/4, Mar 2.54 off 3 3/4.
Wheat: Jul 3.16 up 1/2, Sep 3.20 1/2 off 2, Dec 3.30 1/2 off 3, Mar 3.34 1/4 up 3/4.
Oats: Jul 2.10 1/2 off 3 1/4, Sep 1.69 off 4 3/4, Dec 1.61 1/4 off 2, Mar 1.63 off 2 1/2.
