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Increased input costs for farmers and rising grocery prices for consumers are just some of the consequences of recent turns in the global commodity markets and rising costs of food processing, transportation and labor.

The Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Kansas City hosted a virtual forum on Oct. 7 to highlight ag and food inflation and the financial implications that come from it. The event was also meant as an opportunity to hear from industry leaders in the Midwest about how inflationary pressures are affecting supply chains.

Agriculture is more than just an economic driver for the seven-state region covered by the Kansas City Fed, as well as the Midwest states covered by the Ninth District Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said Nathan Kauffman an economist and vice president of the Kansas City Fed, whose role is to lead banking efforts in regards to research and outreach in agriculture.

The industry also serves as an important foundation to our nation's food supply, said Kauffman.

With farm production costs estimated to be about 25% higher this year than they were in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and fertilizer costs anticipated to be on average about 50% higher than they were the last year what's causing the surge?

Kauffman said it's a combination of both supply and demand, but there are other factors such as labor shortages and transportation disruptions that have been key drivers of rising costs, he said.

Rising costs and the implications

Kaufmann explained how prices of agricultural products remained low and stable in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices increased less than a percent from 2016-20, according to USDA data. But with the pandemic came a surge by more than 50% in the last year and a half, he said.

However, the increase in prices across the board has led to a dramatic rebound in the U.S. agricultural economy, said Kauffman, with farm income expected to be one of the highest on record this year.

Supported by higher prices and increased profits, the value of farm real estate throughout the Midwest, just as one example, is more than 25% higher than before the pandemic, he said.

Economic conditions before the pandemic were leading to what Kauffman called gradual increases in financial stress in the ag industry. Many financial institutions are now reporting a sharp turnaround in the strength of their lending portfolios.

It is important to recognize that the U.S. farm economy is in a much stronger position than what it was before the pandemic, when there had been growing concerns about the industry's financial health, he said.

Consumers are feeling inflationary pressure on their grocery budgets, and the same factors driving up agricultural prices have also influenced the price customers pay for food.

Similar to production costs, from 2010 to 2020 food prices increased on average of nearly 2% per year, said Kauffman. Currently, food prices are more than 10% higher than a year ago, and have continued to rise in recent months.

A surge in commodity prices is only partly to blame for that, he said.

Less than 10% of the cost of food is determined by the cost of farm production, said Kauffman.

Costs associated with things like packaging, transportation and energy account for 10%, he explained, while processing accounts for about 17%, and wholesale and retail distribution costs comprise about 26%. Food service accounts for just shy of 30% of the total cost of food, according to Kauffman.

So while agricultural commodity prices are linked to food prices, especially on a global scale and perhaps for some food products in particular changes in ag prices have only a limited effect on the prices consumers pay for food, said Kaufmann.

Even once production costs begin to ease, Kauffman said that food prices may not decrease as quickly.

Given the importance of other factors that also affect the cost of food, he said.

Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land OLakes, shared how inflationary pressures impact the supply chain of the Fortune 200 food production company that is also a 100-year-old farmer-owned cooperative.

We see the whole value chain, from processing, farm level, all the way until retail, said Ford.

Ford urged Congress to move ahead with immigration reform during the Oct. 7 forum, which she said could relieve some of the labor problems putting the squeeze on the cooperative and industry as a whole. She said that labor is the biggest concern for Land O Lakes members and is the issue she hears most about from them.

Ford called on the U.S. Senate to take immediate action to finish work on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

Do it this season, she said of the window before midterm elections, after which any reform legislation would have to start over.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act which would allow some annual permanent visas for agricultural guest workers and would make farm workers now in the country illegally able to be here legally was passed by the House in March 2021 but the bill and negotiations have stalled in the Senate.

We're a couple million workers short, so what will it take? said Ford.

She said what holds up immigration reform is a larger debate around border security, but the focus should instead be on U.S. farmers and ag workers.

I look at it obviously right at the farm level, for labor, and it has been a mainstay of our economy and economic growth, said Ford of U.S. labor You recognize the number of acres that don't get planted or harvested because there is no labor. We have a global food supply challenge, and we need to move past this and get to a pragmatic solution.

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Navigating ag and food inflation includes calls for immigration reform, speakers at Fed presentation say - Agweek

Keren Carrin / KERA News

Hispanics are now the largest ethnic demographic in Texas, comprising some 40 percent of the population. And candidates vying for seats in November have noticed.

Republicans have invested heavily in courting Latino voters. The Republican National Committee created several so-called Hispanic Community Centers across the state, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke recently visited the Rio Grande Valley with civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.

But what do Latino voters want?

The Texas Newsroom a collaboration between NPR and public radio stations across Texas wants to find out. Reporters from across the state have been asking Latino voters what they hope candidates know about them and their community, along with what they think elected officials should prioritize. Reporters have spoken to people at Astros games in Houston, the Barbacoa and Big Red Festival in San Antonio, and the gubernatorial debate in the Valley. Those interviews have been featured in stories around the state, and we'll continue to roll them out ahead of Election Day.

What voters have told us so far.

Like other voting blocs, Latinos in Texas are not single-issue voters. While campaigns often focus on immigration, especially on the state's southern border, it's not the only issue at the forefront of some voters' minds. Recent polling from the Pew Research Center shows that immigration is one of the key issues for Latinos but so are education, gun control, reproductive rights and the economy.

On a recent afternoon visiting the Bishops Arts District in Dallas, Vicente Reynoso and his partner Ofelia Gonzalez said gun rights, housing and immigration reform top their list of concerns heading into the November elections.

Gonzalez said it's time Texans stop embracing the attitude that nothing can be done on gun reform.

"It's not an excuse anymore to just be like, Oh, we can't do anything about it' or for us to be like Texas is Texas. We're going to keep on being us," she said. "We got to get it under control. I just think it's pretty ridiculous the way we're going about things right now."

Reynoso, who described himself as a centrist gun owner who supports the Second Amendment, thinks lawmakers search for an easy fix instead of addressing gun reform proposals

"There needs to be common sense gun laws. There is no reason I should be able to walk in (to a store) at 18, wait 15 minutes for a background check and walk out that same day with a firearm (and) unlimited amounts of ammo," he said. "I think we keep trying to put band-aids on these very deep issues that we just keep painting over and painting over every few years. I think we need to get to the root of these causes."

On immigration, Reynoso said he'd like candidates to go beyond the broad argument for immigration reform with realistic policy solutions.

"They never really make it clear exactly what they're going to do, they just say immigration reform," he said. "Give a clear plan, don't just throw it in peoples' faces and expect us to eat it up because it happens every four years."

Gonzalez added that she'd like to see fewer people priced out of their current housing due to increasing costs.

"The amount of people that are being left without places to live because of the skyrocketing rent, people that have been in their apartments forever that now can't afford to live where they have always lived," she said. "I don't know what can be done about that necessarily, but I just think it's gotten out of control."

For Patricia Mares, 44, a project manager from Spring, Texas, reproductive rights and school safety top her list of priorities.

"We need to be talking about the safety of our kids in schools, and I think we need to be talking about equal rights for women," she said.

Mares said there is a long list of issues to choose from but she has school-aged children and believes in a woman's right to choose. She'd also like candidates to be honest about their plans instead of offering quick fixes that don't necessarily address an issue.

"We need to focus on, how do we fix things at their core, versus maybe telling people what they want to hear," she said.

Camila Turrubiartes said her stance on abortion solidifies her support for Gov. Greg Abbott. Turrubiartes is originally from Mexico but has been in the United States for 30 years, she said. The Texas Newsroom spoke to her at Dallas' Plaza Latina.

"I am pro-life, and I am in favor of abolishing abortion completely. Right now I support Gov. Greg Abbott and in reality I think he's doing a good job," she said in Spanish.

Turrubiartes said Texas is right to secure its border.

"We are all welcome, but also if President Biden is the one creating all this then there should be a little more help for Texas. Abbott can't do everything," she said.

Turrubiartes aligns with moderates and with Democrats on guns.

"There are a lot of guns, and I am against guns. In reality, there are a lot of assaults" occurring, she said.

For Anjel Perez, who spoke to the Texas Newsroom at Plaza Latina, the state's power grid is on the top of his list of important issues. In 2021 more than 200 people died during a days-long storm that crippled the state's ability to supply most of Texas with heat and electricity. Democrat Beto O'Rourke has made the issue a hallmark of his campaign, and voters like Perez agree more needs to be done.

"There were a bunch of deaths that could have been avoided if our power grid had been better," he said. "A bunch of people died because of the cold, and others died because they had their generators inside and they died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. Little kids died, and it is just horrible to see."

Perez also thinks immigration is a key issue, but he isn't worried about border security. He said instead that the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who are fleeing violence or oppression in their home countries need more resources once they get to the United States.

"They are just here waiting and they are not getting their (needs met). These immigrants, they come here seeking asylum, but they don't get fair representation," he said.

What do you want candidates to consider between now and Election Day? Let us know! Click here to tell us what you would like elected officials to now.

Sergio Martnez-Beltrn and Andrew Schneider contributed reporting to this story.

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Everybody wants the Latino vote in Texas. But what do Latino voters want? - Houston Public Media

Canadian tech companies are calling on the new premier of Alberta to intervene after a regulatory group tooklegal action over job titles such as software engineer.

More than 30 signatories of a letter sent to Danielle Smith on Friday say the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) has taken the aggressive position that software engineers must be regulated, and subject to onerous, restrictive, and unnecessary certification requirements.

The signatories, which include executives from Helcim, Aimso and Neo Financial, see software engineer as a standard job title for anyone building technical programs and argue APEGA shouldnt be treating it as a role in need of certification and regulation like professional engineers.

APEGA is actively targeting companies in Alberta with legal action to restrict us from using globally competitive job titles and descriptions, reads the letter orchestrated by the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), a national tech advocacy organization.

The signatories cite APEGA lawsuits against tech companies that use variations on the engineer title. Theywant Smith to act and remove the regulatory red tape they say hampers their ability to compete for global tech talent, which has long been lured to the U.S. instead with promises of big job titles and even bigger salaries.

Some companies have considered relocating because they find this red tape extremely challenging to deal with and will need to hire more engineers, says CCI President Benjamin Bergen.

Youll see companies open offices in other jurisdictions where they actually use the correct terminology.

He argues this is a case of a regulator which has overstepped on an issue that hasnt seen this level of action anywhere else in the world.

The premiers office referred a request for comment to the minister of labour and immigrations press secretary, Roy Dallmann.

Dallmann said his office encourages CCI and APEGA to find a mutually agreeable solution and promised to work with both groups to resolve the issue because it is concerned by any regulations that impede our competitiveness.

APEGA said in a release that the term engineer comes with a licensed and ethical set of responsibilities and accountabilities. It said this is the same for other regulated professions, such as the health and legal professions.

You would not want someone to operate on you in the province if they are not licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, said Jay Nagendran, APEGA registrar and chief executive officer.

By that same token, you do not want someone designing your pacemaker or self-driving car if they are not a licensed engineer. That puts peoples lives at risk something APEGA takes very seriously.

Nagendran also noted that software engineering is a nationally and internationally recognized discipline of engineering.

APEGAs website says it has the legal right and requirement to restrict the practice and use of titles linked to engineering and geoscience to licensed individuals and companies.

On top of traditional titles like professional engineer, professional geologist and professional geophysicist, it says those who are unlicensed cannot use the word engineer combined with any name, title, description, letter, symbol or abbreviation that implies they are licensed with APEGA in job titles, on resumes or on social media.

APEGA maintains this is because the public may believe that you have the right to practice engineering or geoscience and this can endanger public safety.

An open letter signed by the leaders of each provincial and territorial engineering regulator in Canada in July said use of software engineer, computer engineer and other information technology titles with the engineer suffix is prohibited everywhere in Canada unless the person using it is licensed by one of their regulatory groups.

Engineers Canada, the national body for the provincial and territorial associations, also points out on its website that there is legal precedent on the matter. An Alberta judge ordered an injunction against someone not registered with APEGA who was using software engineer online in 2019.

The licensing of workers is common in many professions, including the legal and medical fields, because its seen as crucial to keeping workers ethical and competent when public safety is at risk. However, it is seldom, if ever, used to regulate those in the tech sector, including workers who build apps and other software and hardware.

Talent is absolutely the most important input to our future success and our ability to attract and retain talent is critical so if were going to have regulators creating a hostile environment for companies we cant be competitive, says Sam Pillar, chief executive of Jobber.

When his Edmonton-based home services platform first heard from APEGA about its use of engineering titles, he says it put disclaimers on its website to differentiate its workers from the positions APEGA regulates. Later, Jobber was sued by APEGA in December 2021.

The matter is still winding through court, Pillar said, adding that its time for the government to step in because its dragging on and affecting companies as big as Google and Apple along with small firms in greater need of talent.

A 2019 report from the Information and Communications Technology Council, a not-for-profit organization offering labour policy advice, predicted demand for digitally-skilled talent in Canada would reach 193,000 by 2022 and more than 305,000 by 2023.

A 2020 addendum accounting for COVID-19 forecast that demand would be reduced by nearly 24 per cent and said under new baseline scenarios, the digital economy is expected to experience demand for 147,000 workers by 2022, with total employment reaching nearly two million.

The 2019 government-funded report listed software developers, data scientists and analysts, cybersecurity workers and information technology support specialists among the most in-demand positions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2022.

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Tech companies want Alta. premier to wade into battle over 'software engineer' title - Winnipeg Free Press

Mumbai: The deadly double accident that occurred earlier this month on the Bandra Worli Sea Link has prompted authorities to adapt additional safety measures to ensure fatalities are reduced on the iconic bridge.

New incident management system, a software, will be put into place that will send outalertsto multiple agencies as well as to the vehicular traffic driving on the sea link within half a minute of any incident occurring.

This system will alert the toll operators, quick response team, put up messages on visual digital signposts, traffic authorities, etc. said an official who was part of the meeting on Tuesday to enhance safety on the sea link.

Additional set of Standard Operating Procedures will also be introduced in ensuring better response measures.

Currently there are sixspeedcamerasinstalled on the bridge connecting Bandra and Worli.Moresuchcameraswill be installed. There is a possibility that the location of thesecameraswill be regularly changed to record the traffic rule violators.

Enforcement of traffic rules and bringing traffic violators to book also needs to be increased. Drunken driving tests will be carried out randomly on the sea link to disallow them from putting lives at risk, shared a source.

Moreover, a new Quick Response Team vehicle that is equipped with metal cutters will be brought in in a few days. A crash barrier vehicle will also be kept at the accident spot in case there is a breakdown of any vehicle.

Among other things, safety messages will be screened on the public visual system and some glow signs will also be installed.

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Original post:
Mumbai: Security and surveillance to be tightened on Bandra Worli Sea Link - Free Press Journal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) submitted a public commentin response to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that seeks to significantly alter the physical document examination requirements associated with employment eligibility verification (Form I-9).

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instituted temporary flexibilities and waived the physical examination of employment and identification documentation for employers facing a sudden and near-total shift to a remote workforce. The Biden administration now seeks the authority, on a discretionary basis, to cement those flexibilities when certain conditions are met.

"Any action taken under the authority provided by this rule, if finalized, will be viewed as an attempt to ease the requirements of employment verification. While a welcome change for employers contending with large-scale remote workforces, it will be abused by bad actors who will hide behind a far easier good faith compliance defense," wrote Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "With the unprecedented numbers of illegal alien apprehensions and encounters along the southern border and the ever-growing crisis that we are presently witnessing, the demand for work is high, and any attempt to diminish verification will be routinely used by smugglers, traffickers, and unscrupulous employers. Any authority used to weaken document verification requirements will erode the intend of the underlying statute aimed at ensuring that only lawful aliens are eligible to work in the United States."

Stein also noted that the proposed rule is arbitrary and overly broad. "It fails to justify any policy determination or provide a reasoned analysis at all. Accordingly, this regulatory amendment appears to be a solution in search of a problem. It is patently unclear why DHS believes that this change is necessary and, assuming arguendo that such authority is necessary, why it must be so broad," said Stein.

"FAIR strongly opposes this proposed rule and urges the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to withdraw it. Instead, DHS should promulgate regulations aimed at enhancing security and anti-fraud measures associated with the employment verification process and continually ensuring that, pursuant to statute, only lawful aliens are able to work in the United States," concluded Stein in the comment.

FAIR's full comment can be accessed here.

Contact: Ron Kovach, 202-328-7004 or [emailprotected].

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

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Biden Administration's Attempt to Loosen Document Verification Would Clear the Path for Fraud and Unlawful Employment, Charges FAIR - PR Newswire