In this weekly Commodities Watch column, John T. Barone, president and commodities analyst for Market Vision Inc., offers a snapshot of the state of commodities for restaurants.
The federal budget sequester has begun to rear its ugly head in the agricultural sector of the economy.
According to a Reuters report, the undersecretary for agriculture, Elizabeth Hagen, told a House Appropriations subcommittee that in order to trim the federal meat safety agency’s budget by $53 million under automatic spending cuts, the USDA will furlough all 9,212 meat safety workers, including meat inspectors, lab workers and investigators. The furloughs will begin in mid-July and will total 11 days, but no “successive” days.
Additionally, the National Agricultural Statistics Service will be suspending a number of statistical reports that include: all catfish and trout reports; the July (mid-year) cattle inventory report; all milk production reports; the potato stocks report; the June rice stocks report; and all non-citrus fruit, nut and vegetable forecasts and estimates.
Contact John T. Barone at [email protected].