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High wholesale prices to blame for rise in egg prices, says WGA president

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High egg prices across the county are due to high wholesale prices from producers.

Large egg companies have more than doubled the wholesale price of eggs over the last year.  Wisconsin Grocers Association president Brandon Scholz says those prices aren’t something a local grocer can easily absorb. 

“Grocers margins, especially in something that’s perishable, like dairy, eggs, produce meat, those sorts of things, you know, you got to sell it. And if you don’t, you can’t get your money back.”

Scholz says you should shop around to see if you can’t find better deals on locally produced eggs. “You’re gonna find some that are maybe private label that is priced lower than what you might find from a national brand, or maybe an organic product.”

Agriculture advocacy group Farm Action is calling for an FTC investigation into possible price fixing after reports that the company behind Eggland’s Best and Land o Lakes saw a 600 percent increase in profits on egg sales last year.

Harley-Davidson will celebrate 120th Anniversary in Milwaukee

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Harley-Davidson is putting together a big celebration for its 120th anniversary. The American motorcycle manufacturing firm announced Homecoming Festival events to happen July 13th through the 16th to celebrate the company’s anniversary.

Those events will happen at venues across the Milwaukee area, including the Harley-Davidson Museum, and Veterans Park on Milwaukee’s lakefront, with family-friendly activities and music from headliners Foo Fighters and Green Day on the 14th and 15th.

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/content/event-calendar/homecoming/ticket-options.html

Harley-Davidson Museum Vice-President Bill Davidson tells Fox 6 Milwaukee that the event is going to be spectacular. “I hope that my future relatives will be able to walk through the Harley-Davidson Museum and read about this epic event,” Davidson said

More information can be found online.

Baldwin highlights approval for new Great Lakes ice breaker

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U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin made a visit to Green Bay Thursday to help celebrate a new Great Lakes ice breaker. The Wisconsin Democrat was joined by Green Bay port officials and area business leaders who say it will help transport goods.

The bipartisan Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act authorized $350 million for the new icebreaker. It was signed into law in December as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

The act also established ice breaking as a Coast Guard responsibility, making it the first time law defines it as such, according to U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher.

WTAQ

Marklein urges rural residents to check accuracy of FCC broadband maps

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A state lawmaker is urging rural residents to challenge inaccurate broadband information on federal coverage maps. Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) says people need to verify the accuracy of Federal Communications Commission maps showing rural broadband availability and speeds.

They have until January 13 to go into the maps and take a look at them and see if the service that the FCC has for your location is what they have on their maps.

Wisconsin is scheduled to get more than 1.1 billion in federal broadband dollars. Marklein says the federal dollars will be spent in areas based on need as indicated by the FCC maps, and he’s concerned some rural areas will be left out because of errors.

John Deere to allow farmers to repair own equipment under agreement with AFBF

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A deal between John Deere and the American Farm Bureau Federation could make it easier for farmers to repair their farm equipment made by the company.

As it stands, John Deere equipment will lock itself down if anyone outside of company technicians tries to repair it. UW Madison ag professor Brian Luck says that’s rough for some farmers who might not have time to wait.

“If I have a machine that’s broken, I can put you know somebody to fix it while I do other things. But I fix it on the farm it gets fixed, and then I can continue my work.”

In the past, some farmers have even turned to computer-cracking programs from Ukraine to do their own repairs. Luck says it’s a balancing act between the company wanting to ensure their equipment is repaired correctly, and farmers who can’t wait for a technician.

“The argument farmers are making is that you know, I’m not able to fix my machine when I need to, I have to send it to a dealership, and there’s an added cost for the labor that I’m having to pay to repair my machine.”

Previously, any time a John Deere equipment had a fault or detected a problem, it could lock itself up until it could be taken to a dealership, or until a company technician could come to the farm to clear the issue. Company officials say they will offer quote fair and reasonable terms to access those tools, but prices have not been laid out at this time.

Cigarette sales decline dramatically

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Cigarette sales in Wisconsin plummeted over the past 20 years. That according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum which cites higher taxes and smoking bans as leading causes for decline, although the reports also notes a growth in the vaping industry.

The number of packs of cigarettes purchased in the state dropped from 420 million in 2001 to just under 193 million in 2022. On a per capita basis, more than 32 packs of cigarettes were sold per resident in 2022 compared with nearly 78 in 2001.
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Racine CNH workers reject contract offer

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The strike continues at Racine’s Case New Holland plant. Over the weekend, a majority of United Auto Workers union members at the CNH plants in Racine and Burlington Iowa rejected an offer from the company.

Reuters reports that the UAW did not disclose how many workers at the two plants rejected the four-year deal, which included wage increases of 25% to 38% according to CNH. Union members said the proposed contract failed to provide enough of a raise to combat inflation, additional vacation days or better healthcare coverage. The strike began in early May. This is the first time union members voted on a contract offer.

Johnson, Baldwin both vote ‘yes’ to avert rail strike

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Wisconsin’s US Senators voted Thursday for a measure to avert a nationwide rail strike. Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson voted ‘yes’ to send the measure to President Biden’s desk. The Senate vote was 80-15.

The agreement will give rail workers a roughly 24 percent pay increase by 2024 and more sick time flexibility. It does not include any new paid sick leave, the sticking point that could have resulted in a disruptive rail strike by the end of next week. Baldwin voted for a House passed amendment granting the rail workers seven paid sick days failed in the Senate on a 52-43 vote, short of the 60 votes needed for approval.

In a statement, Johnson said the ‘cooling off’ period should have been extended to force railroads and unions back to the negotiating table while keeping trains rolling. But he said a shutdown would have harmed people and the economy.

 

Check the apps on your phone and see if you still need them, says DATCP

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Now is a good time to check the apps on your phone and make sure they’re still doing what you want. 

Michelle Reinen with the state division of consumer protection says your phone carries a lot of data about you that you might not even realize you’re sharing with companies. 

“Sometimes that’s done illegally without permission from the user. And sometimes, it is done legally, where you have the knowledge and have consented, but you may not fully understand how much information is being collected and sold.”

Reinen says you should feel free to turn off functions of apps that have the access they don’t really need. “If you don’t want it to access your camera. And there’s no need that an app X accesses your camera, go ahead and turn that off.  If it’s not a weather app or a workout app that’s tracking your mileage, does it really need to know what your location is in order to function properly?”

Many apps share data between themselves and can create a profile of you that can be sold to advertisers and others. If you don’t need an app on your phone, it’s best to get rid of it.

Inflation reduction bill to get vote this weekend

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Action is likely in the U.S. Senate this weekend, on a measure to bring down inflation.

Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin says the Inflation Reduction Act will help push down prices on drugs and food, and enforce corporate tax laws 

“This bill is entirely paid for, not only is it entirely paid for, but the extra revenue created by lowering the price of prescription drugs means you know that there’ll be huge savings and in Medicare.”

“There’s so much revenue generated by these policies that we’re going to pay down our deficit. And that is something we need to do, but it’s long overdue,” says Baldwin. A major portion of the bill increases enforcement at the IRS and institutes a base minimum tax rate for companies. 

“The corporate minimum tax addresses the fact that a lot of corporations don’t do their fair share.”

The bill will also allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which will help create savings for the government and help extend health care. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said voting will begin on Saturday.