White House on Wednesday to Host First Hunger Conference in Over 50 Years

Home prices cooled in July at fastest rate in history of S&P Case-Shiller Index

Shutdown stopgap. Senate Democrats released a short-term funding bill (CR) to avert a gov’t shutdown, but it includes a measure to speed up energy project permits opposed by most Republicans and some Democrats. A procedural vote to keep government open past the November election to Dec. 16 may be held tonight. It does not include ag disaster funding. Details in Policy section.

The World Bank expects developing economies in East Asia to grow faster than China this year for the first time since 1990. China, meanwhile, took action regarding the volatile currency markets.

The British pound’s plunge has caught attention not only in the U.K. but around the world, including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who said: “A currency crisis in a reserve currency could well have global consequences. I am surprised that we have heard nothing from the IMF,” he said.

The Dow’s 1.1% decline Monday put the index into its first bear market — defined as a drop of 20% or more from a recent high — since the early days of the pandemic.

Charles Evans said he was getting nervous about the Fed’s pace of tightening and that if inflation peaks, the FOMC could cut rates as soon as early 2023 which has sparked a relief rally across risk assets amid renewed hopes for “peak hawkishness.” Evans spoke early this morning on Squawk Box Europe.

Home prices cooled in July at the fastest rate in the history of S&P Case-Shiller Index.

Lumber prices have fallen back to their prepandemic levels, pointing to a sharp slowdown in construction.

A whoppo $400 billion price tag for President Biden’s executive order regarding student loans. Details and perspective in Policy section.

Russian military-recruitment centers were attacked as resistance to mobilization took a violent turn. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted citizenship to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has already been living under asylum in the country for nearly a decade.

Biden proposes major action to end hunger and reduce and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030. Details in Food policy section.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will soon publish in the Federal Register a proposed to address what USDA said it actions by meat packers to use undue prejudice, discrimination and deception against livestock, meat and poultry producers

Beginning Saturday, Canada will no longer require proof of Covid-19 vaccination or testing, opening the border to unvaccinated travelers for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Canada’s Public Health Agency pointed to the nation’s high vaccination rate, low rates of Covid-19-related hospitalizations and deaths, and increased availability of rapid tests and vaccine boosters as some of the primary factors behind the public health decision. It joins a list of 85 nations and territories now operating sans Covid-19 entry requirements.

Ian made landfall over Cuba as a major category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph As it gains power, Ian may become the worst storm to hit Tampa in a century. More than 300,000 people are expected to evacuate.

Election Day 2022 is 42 days away. Election Day 2024 is 770 days away.

Equities today: Global stock markets were mixed to firmer overnight. U.S. Dow opened up around 200 points higher and is currently around 300 points higher. In Asia, Japan +0.53%. Hong Kong +0.03%. China +1.94%. India -0.05%. In Europe, at midday, London -0.20%. Paris +0.20%. Frankfurt +0.27%. Futures at 6:30, Dow +0.72%.

U.S. equities yesterday: The Dow ended down 329.60 points, 1.11%, at 29,260.81. The Nasdaq declined 65.00 points, 0.60%, at 10,802.92. The S&P 500 was down 38.19 points, 1.03%, at 3,655.04.

The Cboe Volatility Index, also known as the VIX or the “fear gauge,” on Monday hit its highest level since the middle of June, the last time markets were in the tank this year.

Agriculture markets yesterday:

• Corn: December corn fell 10 1/2 cents to $6.66 1/4, the contract’s lowest close since Sept. 2.
• Soy complex: November soybeans fell 14 1/2 cents to $14.11 1/4, the contract’s lowest closing price since Sept. 8. December soymeal fell $5.80 to $417.50. December soyoil fell 122 points to 62.46 cents.
• Wheat: December SRW wheat fell 22 1/2 cents to $8.58. December HRW wheat dropped 21 cents to $9.29 1/2. December spring wheat fell 18 cents to $9.31 1/4.
• Cotton: December cotton fell 417 points to 88.37 cents, the contract’s lowest settlement since July 14.
• Cattle: December live cattle fell $1.20 to $147.35, the contract’s lowest closing price since July 21. November feeder cattle fell $1.20 to $177.05, the lowest close since June 14.
• Hogs: December lean hogs fell $3.40 at $79.40, the contract’s lowest close since late January. Monday’s CME lean hog index fell 42 cents to $97.59, and today’s reading is expected to drop another 60 cents.
  

Ag markets today: Corrective buying was seen in the grain and soy complex overnight as the U.S. dollar pulled back and crude oil firmed. As of 7:30 a.m. ET, corn futures were trading 1 to 3 cents higher, soybeans were 8 to 11 cents higher and wheat futures were mostly 11 to 13 cents higher. Front-month crude oil futures were nearly $1.00 higher and the U.S. dollar index was around 475 points lower this morning.

Technical viewpoints from Jim Wyckoff:

On tap today:

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks on digital finance at 7:30 a.m. ET.
• U.S. durable goods orders for August are expected to fall 0.5% from the prior month. (8:30 a.m. ET)
• S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller’s 20-city home-price index for July is expected to increase 17.3% from one year earlier. (9 a.m. ET) UPDATE: Home prices are still higher than they were a year ago, but continued to cool very quickly in July. Prices nationally rose 15.8% over July 2021, and while that is a wide gain, it was well below the 18.1% gain in the previous month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. “July’s report reflects a forceful deceleration,” wrote Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI in a release, noting the difference in the annual gains in June and July. “The -2.3% difference between those two monthly rates of gain is the largest deceleration in the history of the index.”
• European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos (9:15 a.m. ET), Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill (9:35 a.m. ET) and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard (9:55 a.m. ET) speak at a Barclays-CEPR International Monetary Policy Forum.
• U.S. new-home sales are expected to fall to an annual pace of 500,000 in August from 511,000 one month earlier. (10 a.m. ET)
• Conference Board’s consumer confidence index is expected to rise to 104.5 in September from 103.2 one month earlier. (10 a.m. ET)
• Richmond Fed’s manufacturing survey is expected to rise to minus 7.5 in September from minus 8 one month earlier. (10 a.m. ET)
• Live Q&A on the economic outlook. WSJ’s Nick Timiraos, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the Fed’s September policy meeting and its plan to battle high inflation.
• President Biden will deliver remarks at 1:15 p.m. ET on healthcare costs, Medicare and Social Security.

So much for a soft landing. A hard landing is coming, but when and how bad? While some see a bounce, it could take until after Nov. 8 elections to settle some key market issues, veteran analysts note.

A surging greenback can hurt the profits of U.S. multinationals and also wreak havoc on global trade, with so much of it transacted in dollars. “Such U.S. dollar strength has historically led to some kind of financial/economic crisis,” wrote Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, chief U.S. equity strategist, in a note. “If there was ever a time to be on the lookout for something to break, this would be it.”

Goldman Sachs and BlackRock are warning that markets are yet to price in the risk of a global recession, as strategists turn more bearish on stocks for the short term. Ned Davis Research now sees a 98% chance of a looming global recession.

A former Chinese central bank official warned that the Federal Reserve’s most aggressive interest-rate hike cycle since the 1980s is destabilizing global financial markets and harming other economies.

Questions are rising, such Will there be a coordinated government intervention to stop its relentless rally? Are major economies, such as the eurozone or Japan, facing a currency crisis? How will this epic dollar rally affect corporate earnings, especially among global corporations?

The yield continues to jump on the 2-year Treasury, which is especially sensitive toward Fed policy. The rate on the note surpassed 4.3%, the highest level since 2007.

Meanwhile, the U.K. pound plunge has caught the focus of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who said: “A currency crisis in a reserve currency could well have global consequences. I am surprised that we have heard nothing from the IMF,” he said.

Capitulation coming? “U.S. rates are rising as the market reprices peak Fed Funds higher, and equities are being repriced lower,” Societe Generale macro strategist Kit Juckes said. “This has all the hallmarks of the start of the final stage of the dollar’s rally (a stage which has the capacity to be violent and volatile).”

From a technical standpoint, BTIG’s Jonathan Krinsky says that the dollar index has room to move up to 120 (it stands below 114 at the moment), but that it at least needs to pause for equities to bottom. Foreign exchange volume is also at a critical level, Krinsky said.

The Port of New York and New Jersey outpaced its competitors in California to finish August as the busiest container port in the U.S., Bloomberg News reports (link). The East Coast complex moved 843,191 20-foot equivalent units last month, a 7.7% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, the nation’s largest ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach — which together handle 40% of all U.S. containerized trade with Asia — are seeing volumes cool down after a record-breaking first half of the year. The Atlantic coast complex last moved more cargo than both the twin ports at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Market perspectives:

• Outside markets: The U.S. dollar index is lower on a corrective pullback after hitting a 20-year high Monday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is rising and presently fetching 3.821%. The 2-year Treasury note yield is 4.248%. Crude has moved after seeing sharp losses in Monday action. U.S. crude was trading around $77.80 per barrel and Brent around $85.40 per barrel. Gold and silver futures are higher, with gold around $1,645 per troy ounce and silver around $18.67 per troy ounce.

• British pound rebounded against the dollar during Asian trading, rising 5% above the nadir of below $1.04 reached on Monday. The Bank of England said it would “not hesitate to change interest rates” — but would not raise them yet. The Atlanta Fed president said yesterday that the British plan raises economic uncertainty and the chances of a global recession. Some speculators are betting the U.K.’s pound will slide to a level that was virtually unthinkable in recent decades: $1 or less. Option markets are implying a 43% chance the pound will hit parity with the dollar before the end of the year.

• Crude oil continues to decline. West Texas Intermediate crude settles at lowest level since January. WTI, the benchmark for U.S. oil, ended the day at $76.71, slipping 2.58%. It’s the lowest settle for the commodity since Jan. 3. Brent crude slipped 2.43% to settle at $86.06. Earlier, it traded as low as $83.81, the lowest level since Jan. 13.

• Lumber prices have fallen to their lowest level in more than two years, bringing two-by-fours back to what they cost before the pandemic building boom and pointing to a sharp slowdown in construction, the WSJ reports (link). Wood prices crashed in the early days of the 2020 lockdown, but they exploded that summer when stuck-at-home Americans remodeled en masse and suburban home sales surged. Two-by-four prices nearly tripled the prepandemic record in an early sign of the inflation and broken supply chains that would bedevil the economic reopening. Lumber has led the way down for commodities since the Federal Reserve took aim at rising consumer prices and the overheated housing market.

• Ag trade: South Korea purchased 137,000 MT of corn expected to be sourced from South America or South African and 68,000 MT of South American corn. Japan is seeking 61,800 MT of milling wheat in its weekly tender. Jordan made no purchases in a tender that closed today to buy 120,000 MT of milling wheat but issued a similar tender with an Oct. 4 deadline.

• Ian could be a once-in-a-century hurricane for Florida’s west coast. Hurricane Ian, growing in strength, could hit Florida’s Gulf Coast as soon as Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane — indicating top winds of 140 mph. If it stays on that track, it would mark the first time in more than 100 years that Tampa and St. Petersburg will be hit by a major hurricane.

• NWS weather: Major Hurricane Ian is forecast to make landfall on the west coast of Florida late Wednesday/early Thursday; slow forward motion of Ian will likely prolong impacts from high winds, heavy rain, and flooding even for areas further inland... ...Heavy rain expected downwind of the lower Great Lakes today, gradual tapering off on Wednesday... ...Cool and unsettled weather expected to persist across the Northeast and Great Lakes through at least mid-week... ...Well above average temperatures across much of the West, with excessive heat continuing over parts of southern California, followed by arrival of rain and cooler temperatures over the Pacific Northwest later on Wednesday.

Items in Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today include:

• Grains rebound as outside market pressure eases
• China tries to stabilize markets ahead of Communist Party Congress
• Extended decline in corn, bean CCI ratings continues.
• China to auction wheat reserves
• Futures selloff could sway cash cattle trade
• Washout in hog futures

— Summary: Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, said that the country has the right to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. Medvedev also stated his belief that NATO would stay out of the conflict for fear of “a nuclear apocalypse.” Meanwhile, heavy fighting was reported along the front separating Ukrainian and Russian troops. Meanwhile, Russia is in danger of losing its key supply hub in Lyman, an eastern Ukrainian city, as conflict continues around the Oskil River, a natural defensive barrier running north to south from Russia to eastern Ukraine. The 300,000 military reserves that Putin mobilized last week won’t arrive in time to save the Russian position east of the Oskil, which will likely cause dire implications for Russia’s hold on Luhansk Oblast, a separatist province.

• Ukrainians who helped organize referendums in four Russian-controlled areas will face treason charges and years in jail, according to an adviser to Ukraine’s president. This does not include Ukrainians coerced into voting to join Russia. The polls will close on Tuesday. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, is expected to announce the results (inevitably in his favor) on Sept. 30.
• Women farmers in Ukraine. They’ve long had a rule in Ukrainian agriculture, but since so many men were called to fight Russia, Ukrainian women are increasing their work on the farm. Link to Time article.
• Ukraine grain shipments since export deal top 5 MMT. A total of 231 ships carrying 5.3 MMT of agricultural products, including nine vessels with 345,3000 MT that departed today, have left three Ukrainian Black Sea ports since Aug. 1 when the grain export deal started. Prior to the war, Ukraine exported up to 6 MMT of grain per month and the three ports included in the export deal could load 100 to 150 ships per month.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship to Edward Snowden on Monday, nearly a decade after the former security consultant fled the U.S. after leaking highly classified information about the National Security Agency. The Department of Justice charged Snowden in 2013 with violating the Espionage Act after he shared documents with the media detailing global surveillance programs in a move considered to be one the largest security breaches in U.S. history.
  

— Biden student loan forgiveness will cost $400 billion over 10 years, CBO estimates. The Biden administration’s plan to forgive a significant portion of federal student loans will cost roughly $400 billion, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In a letter (link) to Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the senior Republicans on the Senate and House education committees, Phillip Swagel, the director of the CBO, estimated that the student loan plan announced by the Biden administration last month will cost about $400 billion but that the estimate was “highly uncertain.”

Wait… $20 billion more. The CBO also estimated that the administration’s decision to extend the pause on loan repayment through the end of the year will cost the government $20 billion.

Background. Last month, the Biden administration announced it was forgiving $20,000 in student loans for every borrower with an annual income below $125,000 who had received a Pell Grant in their financial aid package. All other borrowers in the income bracket are eligible for $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

Estimate doesn’t include the new repayment caps. In its analysis, the CBO did not account for the administration’s changes to the income-driven repayment program, which lower borrowers’ monthly payment requirements based on their income. “The most uncertain components are the projections of how much borrowers would repay if the executive action canceling debt had not been undertaken and how much they will repay under that executive action,” Swagel wrote in the letter. For its estimate, the CBO approximated that 95% of student loan borrowers were eligible for some forgiveness, and 65% were eligible for the full $20,000 cancellation. Of those eligible, the CBO estimated that 90% would apply for loan forgiveness, and 45% of borrowers would have their entire outstanding balance eliminated.

Perspective: Student loan cancellation would rank among the Biden administration’s most expensive initiatives. The $420 billion is about on par with the amount spent on Covid stimulus checks from Biden’s American Rescue Plan. And it would more than negate the $238 billion in deficit reduction expected from Democrats’ recent tax, climate and health plan, aka Inflation Reduction Act. Big difference: Student loan cancellation was done via an executive order.

— USDA to provide up to $20 million for construction of on-farm grain storage facilities in areas impacted by recent natural disasters. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA will make available $20 million in cost-share assistance to help agricultural producers in Kentucky, Minnesota, South Dakota and surrounding areas to rebuild storage facilities damaged by devastating natural disaster events in 2021 and 2022. This assistance will help producers who were hard-hit by disasters and are currently struggling with a lack of available grain storage have the resources they need as they head into the 2022 crop harvest.

— Text for a stopgap funding bill (link) was revealed late Monday night to keep the government running through Dec. 16. But it faces several hurdles to avoid a gov’t shutdown this weekend. It includes (link to section-by-section summary):

• $12.4 billion in aid for Ukraine, plus an authorization for the president to draw down $3.7 billion worth of the U.S. military’s stocks.
• Permitting: Language by sometimes-centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to expedite the energy-permitting process, which most Senate Republicans oppose.
• Defense: The bill includes several provisions and $3 billion relating to the resettlement of refugees from Afghanistan. Lawmakers are making $100 million available to extend funds available in the now-defunct Afghanistan Security Forces Fund to pay outstanding invoices for contract costs incurred in Afghanistan. The bill would provide an additional $15.3 million for the FBI for investigative work regarding Afghan resettlement. And it would extend for the duration of the funding bill the authorization for refugee benefits granted in fiscal 2022.
• FDA: Extends authorization for the Food and Drug Administration’s user fee program through 2027. Under the bill, the FDA will be authorized for five years to collect user fees, averting a shortfall that would have included layoffs at the agency. FDA user fees are collected by the agency from drug and medical device companies to fund the review of products. Congress must vote to reauthorize the FDA’s authority to collect these fees every five years.
• Immigration: $1.78 billion for refugee and entrant assistance provided by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. The White House said it was needed to care for the current number of unaccompanied children arriving in the U.S., particularly from Cuba.
• Drones: Extends the Homeland Security and Justice departments’ authority to intercept drones for the length of the CR. House and Senate lawmakers have proposed alternate measures to reauthorize the authority for the long term.
• Disaster aid: Funding to address the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, wildfires in New Mexico, and other areas. The bill includes $20 million for the Army Corps of Engineers to work on water infrastructure in Jackson. It would provide $2.5 billion for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) account to respond to New Mexico’s Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. The bill would allocate another $2 billion for disaster aid through the Community Development Block Grant program. And it includes a measure to give FEMA the flexibility to spend at a higher rate to respond to disasters.
• Spectrum: Extends the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to auction spectrum to Dec. 16, 2022.
• Other Measures: Includes $1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and provides $62 million to support the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for 988 callers.

What it does not include:

• Covid: $22.4 billion Biden requested for Covid resources.
• Monkeypox: $4.5 billion to respond to monkeypox cases.
• Ag disaster aid, which is expected to be included in an end-of-year spending measure.
• Uranium: The White House had requested $1.5 billion for emergency uranium purchases to ease U.S. reliance on Russia for the element, but that was left out.
• Biden’s requested pathway to citizenship for Afghans who came to the U.S. after the withdrawal last year. Several Republicans raised concerns about how refugees were vetted.

Now what? If the Senate falls short of the 60 votes needed tonight, there is the option to strip out the permitting proposal and move forward on the government funding bill without it. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is urging his fellow Senate Republicans to reject Manchin’s energy permitting proposal, even if that means voting down the continuing resolution. Manchin told Fox News on Monday he was surprised by McConnell’s move: “What I didn’t expect is that Mitch McConnell and my Republican friends would be stacking up with Bernie or trying to get the same outcome by not passing permitting reform,” he said. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), a senior appropriator, said he expects Manchin’s additions to be removed from the bill before the Senate votes on passage. The House is prepared to act quickly on the bill whenever it comes from the Senate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week. “We have same-day authority already built in, so we don’t have to delay it in any way for procedural purposes.”

— Slight uptick in USDA aid payments. Payments under the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) totaled $6.91 billion as of Sept. 25, up from $6.74 billion the prior week. The total includes $5.94 billion in payments for non-specialty crops ($5.80 billion prior) and $961.5 million in specialty crop payments ($940 million prior).

A slight increase in payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) were also reported, putting the total at $19.14 billion, up from $19.13 billion previously. The total includes $14.31 billion in original CFAP 2 payments ($14.3 billion prior) while the $4.83 billion in top-up payments was essentially unchanged. There were no changes in CFAP 1 payments.

— Biden’s bid to boost competition. President Biden on Monday unveiled his plan to beef up competition in key industries. Part of that, Biden said, involves cracking down on fees charged to customers by banks, hotels and cell phone providers, among other businesses. “Families shouldn’t have to pay these fees,” he said. “It’s all taking money out of the pockets of average Americans.”

Next step: The proposal dates to the Obama administration and was scrapped in 2017 by then-President Donald Trump after airlines complained that it was unnecessary and would incur significant costs. It must now go through a 60-day comment period before final approval.” Also, recall that Biden is also looking to improve competition in the meat industry — one of his administration’s favorite targets in the inflation blame game —whose prices are generally set by a few huge producers.

— China to release fourth batch of pork stocks. China will sell an unspecified amount of pork from state reserves as it tries to increase supplies ahead of the week-long National Day holiday that begins Oct. 1. In total, Beijing plans to sell 200,000 MT of pork from state-reserves to ease prices, which were 30% higher than year-ago last week.

— The World Bank slashed its growth forecast for China in 2022, in part because of the country’s zero-Covid policy and property crisis. The bank expects the world’s second-biggest economy to grow at an annual rate of 2.8%, a little over half of its previous forecast of 5%. Growth in the East Asia and the Pacific regions was also revised down to 3.2%. The outlook for the region, however, is threatened by the US Fed raising interest rates more aggressively than some expected in a bid to quell inflation, the World Bank said, something that could weigh on the global economy and create financial stress in countries with hefty debt loads.

Perspective: China’s GDP is forecast to be lower than neighbors in East Asia for first time since 1990.

— China vows positive trade growth during second half of this year. China can achieve positive foreign trade growth in the second half of 2022 despite slowing external demand, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said on Tuesday, amid growing pressure to stabilize the country’s import and export flows. To stabilize the sector, the commerce ministry released measures, including supporting firms’ order delivery and encouraging some regions to explore second-hand auto exports. China will lower port dues on cargo priced by the government by 20% in the fourth quarter and vowed to keep normal operation of ports and freight depots, state media quoted the cabinet as saying last week.

— China’s central bank took another step to shore up the yuan, making it more expensive for traders and institutions to bet against the currency after it weakened rapidly against the dollar. The People’s Bank of China said on Monday that financial institutions selling foreign-exchange forward contracts will be subject to a 20% risk-reserve ratio, up from zero currently. The change, which commence Sept. 28, will make it costlier for banks — and correspondingly, their clients — to sell yuan to buy dollars in the derivatives markets. China’s onshore yuan, which is traded in the country’s tightly controlled domestic market, has weakened 3.7% against the dollar so far this month and more than 11% this year.

— Sales of refrigerated meat alternatives declined 10.5% in the year leading up to Sept. 4, per IRI data. Reasons: market saturation, exorbitant prices, and the pushback against “woke” culture, according to Deloitte.

— Biden proposes major action to end hunger and reduce and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030. The coming package includes a “pathway” to free school meals for all students, expansion of SNAP, development of front-of-package nutrition labels and a Medicare test of “food as medicine.” The 44-page strategy (link) was released ahead of Wednesday’s White House hunger conference where President Joe Biden and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, among others, will speak. The conference aims to bring together government leaders, academics, activists and Americans from all walks of life to achieve the goal of ending hunger and reducing diet-related diseases. The conference will include several high-profile guests and will take place at the Ronald Reagan Building, though most conference participants will take part remotely.

Perspective: Nearly 900 people die every day in the U.S. from diet-related heart disease, according to researchers.

Some of the White House proposals will require congressional action, such as expanding school nutrition programs, while others can be undertaken at the agency level, such as FDA development of front-of-package labels and guidelines to reduce sodium and, potentially, added sugars in foods.

The last such conference at the White House was in the Nixon administration. The 1969 hunger conference and its many recommendations influenced U.S. nutrition policy for the rest of the century. Key accomplishments were expansion of the food stamp and school lunch programs, authorization of WIC and creation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. “The last conference was a critical moment in our history, and I have no doubt we’ll look back on this year’s conference with the same historic lens,” said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

More than 50 years since then-president Richard Nixon held a similar diet summit, “the U.S. has yet to end hunger and is facing an urgent, nutrition-related health crisis,” the White House said. This includes rising cases of diet-related diseases like type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and certain cancers. “The consequences of food insecurity and diet-related diseases are significant, far reaching, and disproportionately impact historically underserved communities,” the White House said in a statement. “There is no silver bullet to address these complex issues, and there is no overnight fix,” the statement warned. However, the White House statement said that many of these diseases are preventable, while at the same time helping the country’s poorest to escape hunger, “where no one wonders whether they will have enough money to put food on the table.”

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) is one of four lawmakers credited with petitioning the White House to hold the conference. He says Wednesday’s event will be about coming up with ideas for policy changes in the future to end hunger in America by 2030.

The Biden plan is “ambitious but achievable,” said a senior official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. They are designed to meet Biden’s goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical exercise by 2030 so that fewer Americans experience chronic, diet-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease, officials said.

Regarding “food as medicine,” the administration said it supports a pilot program for medically tailored meals for Medicare recipients who have diet-related health conditions. The proposal would build on a demonstration project in Medicaid. The hunger strategy calls for Medicare and Medicaid to provide more access to nutrition and obesity counseling.

To help Americans choose healthy foods, the FDA would develop a front-of-package (FOP) label to quickly communicate nutrition information. “FOP labeling systems — such as star ratings or traffic light schemes — can promote equitable access to nutrition information and healthier choices, and could also prompt industry to reformulate foods to be healthier,” said the hunger plan. The FDA also would update nutrition standards for what can be labeled as “healthy” food, propose guidelines to further reduce sodium levels in foods, and consider steps, such as voluntary targets, to reduce the amount of added sugars in foods.

Over the weekend, the Biden administration launched a new website linked to the event where people can upload videos with their thoughts on hunger. The White House is also accepting written suggestions online.

— USDA issues rule against unfair practices in livestock marketing. At a meeting of a competition council, President Biden announced on Monday a proposed USDA rule to prevent unfair and deceptive practices in livestock marketing. It was the second of three rules planned by the USDA to give poultry, hog and cattle producers more leverage in dealing with meat processors. The proposal (link), which will be open for public comment for 60 days, identifies unlawful, deceptive practices in contracts between processors and producers, would prohibit retaliation against producers for lawful communications, and protects “market vulnerable individuals” from disadvantageous treatment due to their race, religion, gender or sex.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will soon publish in the Federal Register a proposed rule (link to proposed rule and link to a fact sheet) to address what USDA said it actions by meat packers to use undue prejudice, discrimination and deception against livestock, meat and poultry producers. There will be a 60-day comment period once the proposal appears in the Federal Register.

— Summary:

• Global Covid-19 cases at 615,603,521 with 6,538,441 deaths.
• U.S. case count is at 96,116,204 with 1,056,789 deaths.
• Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center says there have been 616,172,307 doses administered, 268,373,101 have received at least one vaccine, or 81.45% of the U.S. population.

— Canada will scrap its remaining Covid-19 border restrictions on Oct. 1, bringing an end to pandemic policies that have dramatically slowed cross-border traffic between Canada and the U.S. Canada will no longer bar people that haven’t been fully vaccinated for Covid-19 from entering the country. It also stopped a requirement that travelers upload proof of vaccination and other information into a government app called ArriveCan. Business owners, politicians and border agents said that preclearance method was clunky, error-ridden and dissuaded travelers from entering Canada.

As previously reported, pandemic travel barriers are coming down elsewhere. Japan said last week it would end its 50,000-daily-visitor cap and its ban on individual travelers starting Oct. 11. Hong Kong scrapped its quarantine-at-a-hotel policy yesterday.

— Congress’ schedule:

The House is out.

The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. ET to consider the motion to proceed to the legislative vehicle for the continuing resolution. The Senate is scheduled to vote at 5:30 p.m. ET on cloture on the motion to proceed.

— NASA’s DART probe successfully smashed into an asteroid 6.8 million miles away in a test of the American space agency’s ability to defend Earth by deflecting incoming projectiles. It will be a few weeks before scientists know for sure if the experiment worked, but Lori Glaze, NASA’s planetary science director, called it a “new era of humankind.”

WASDE | Crop Production | USDA weekly reports | Crop Progress | Food prices | Farm income | Export Sales weekly | ERP dashboard | California phase-out of gas-powered vehicles | RFS | IRA: Biofuels | IRA: Ag | Student loan forgiveness | Russia/Ukraine war, lessons learned | Election predictions: Split-ticket | Congress to-do list |