Iowa Governor Terry Branstad drew on his agricultural trade and ethanol experience, as well as his 30 year friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. When asked by Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE) what he will do to get more U.S. chickens to China, Branstad agreed that China needs to have “a …
Meet the New NAMA President
The 2017 AgriMarketing Conference held last week in Dallas, Texas is the annual meeting for the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). The conference also marked the changing of the guard for NAMA as a new president took over leadership of the organization, so the team sat down with outgoing president Matt Coniglio of Penton Agriculture/Farm Progress and incoming president Amy Bradford …
Perdue Visits Kansas City USDA Office
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue visited the USDA office in Kansas City, Missouri this week and addressed members of the press on a variety of ag issues, including the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), farm bill priorities, SNAP programs, staffing possibilities, the recent wildfires, and his priority for the USDA. Listen to the complete press conference: …
#NAMA17 in Dallas
The 2017 Agri-Marketing Conference was held in Dallas, Texas April 26-28. The annual meeting of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) features awards, student competitions, sessions, workshops, networking opportunities and the Connection Point trade show for professionals in marketing and agribusiness. This post features links to photos, audio and stories from #NAMA17. This virtual newsroom includes links to photos, audio and …
NAFTA’s Future Remains Uncertain
Following speculation that the U.S. might be preparing to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), President Trump agreed Wednesday evening to renegotiate the 23-year-old agreement with Canada and Mexico and “not to terminate NAFTA at this time.” As reports of a potential NAFTA withdrawal started to circulate on Wednesday, a Farm Foundation Forum was being held on …
USFRA Partners with ZimmComm for SMART Farmer Podcast
Consumers like technology. The smart phone, the smart home and the smart classroom all encompass innovation and technology that helps improve people’s lives. Similarly, with agriculture continually evolving resembling every other forward-thinking industry, today’s SMART Farm utilizes technology to be more sustainable and efficient. To share personal stories about ways farmers and ranchers are using technology, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers …
USDA Welcomes @SecretarySonny
Sonny Perdue was sworn in as the 31st U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tuesday and officially introduced his new Twitter handle – @SecretarySonny. Welcome to Twitter Secretary Perdue. After he took the oath of office, Perdue’s first order of business was to address employees at the USDA. During his address, Perdue explained the four main principles that will guide him while …
General Mills Backs Soil Health Projects
General Mills recently announced a $2 million commitment to the Soil Health Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and the Soil Health Partnership to support the development of tools and resources for farmers, landowners, and supply chain leaders to achieve widespread adoption of soil health practices. In this podcast, Soil Health Institute president and CEO Wayne Honeycutt talks about the partnership and …
Trump Holds White House Farmers Roundtable
President Trump welcomed new Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on his first day in office for a White House “Farmers Roundtable” and the signing of an Executive Order establishing an Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity. Among the 14 farmers and ranchers invited to the White House session was American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. “Not only …
GROWMARK Reports on #Plant17 Conditions
While corn planting in Illinois was gaining momentum last week, Tim Laatsch of the Agronomy Division at GROWMARK was talking about the field conditions around the state and how the warmer, drier winter combined with wet conditions this spring is causing winter annuals to thrive in some areas, providing a good habitat for cutworms. In this interview, Laatsch also talks …
Sonny Perdue Confirmed as Ag Secretary
The U.S. Senate has formally confirmed the nomination of George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue III to serve as the 31st Secretary of Agriculture. The final vote was 87 to 11. Perdue, an agribusinessman, veterinarian, state legislator, and former governor of Georgia, grew up working on his family farm in central Georgia, making him the fourth agriculture secretary who has worked as …
SMART Farmer Nancy Kavazanjian
This is episode number six of the USFRA SMART Farmer podcast and this one is with Nancy Kavazanjian, who served as the second chairperson of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. Nancy farms with her husband Charlie Hammer in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin on land that has been in his family for 150 years. She grew up on Long Island, made …
Ethanol Report on Earth Day
Ethanol has a seat on the ground at one of the largest Earth Day events in the country this weekend – Earth Day Texas, which last year hosted over 130,000 attendees, over 700 exhibitors and more than 250 speakers. Even bigger and better this year, the event includes an alternative fuels educational session on Saturday where Renewable Fuels Association Vice …
Fluency Agent Advanced Helps Farmers CARE
The Bayer CARE initiative has been encouraging growers to be good stewards of the land for five years and now Bayer is making that goal more attainable with Fluency Agent Advanced, which was introduced by the company at Commodity Classic. In this interview, Bayer Seed Growth product manager Melissa Chu and Ron Reichert, application technology manager for Bayer Seed Growth, …
ASTA Weighs in on New Phytosanitary Measures
Last week the seed industry announced good news in the form of the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM), a world wide attempt to put seed regulations on the same page. Ric Dunkle, Senior Director of Seed Health and Trade for the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) was at the International Plant Protection Convention in Korea when the standards were …