2018 Cattle Industry Summer Meeting

More than 600 cattle industry leaders will be attending the Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in Denver this week to help create direction for critical industry programs. The meeting is taking place Aug. 1-4. The event includes meetings of cattlemen and women representing the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, American National CattleWomen and National Cattlemen’s …

Erin Fitzgerald is New USFRA CEO

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) has ended a five- month search for a new chief executive officer with the selection Erin Fitzgerald to lead the organization. Fitzgerald previously served as Senior Vice President, Global Sustainability for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy®, a part of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI). Fitzgerald will lead USFRA as it approaches its eighth …

2018 Agri-Pulse Policy Summit

The Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit held March 21 in Washington, D.C. to learn more about important trade policies, the farm bill and new revolutions in food production. Confirmed speakers include Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, Ranking Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Agricultural Trade, and Food Assistance Ray Starling, and USDA Under …

Golden ARC Awards “Call for Entries” Announced

The Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) today issued the annual “Call for Entries” for the highly-respected Golden ARC Awards. The annual contest allows agricultural public relations professionals to submit their best work for comparison to that of colleagues working in companies, agencies, associations and other organizations around the globe. New this year is a reduced price for entries. As an added …

Ethanol Report from #RFANEC18

The Renewable Fuels Association 23rd National Ethanol Conference with the theme “Ethanol Strong” was held February 12-14 in San Antonio, Texas. The event featured the annual “State of the Industry” address by RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen, as well as panels and speakers on a number of important topics, from electric vehicles to RINs to the expanding export market. …

#FarmBill18 Listening Session in Missouri

The Missouri Farm Bureau hosted a listening session on the 2018 Farm Bill at Lake Ozark, Missouri this week featuring: – Ranking Member House Ag Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) – Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) – Chairman Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Chris Giancarlo – Former Congressman Kenny Hulshof – Retired Economist, American Farm Bureau Federation, Dr. Bob Young, – Senior …

2017 NAFB Convention

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) held its 74th annual convention November 8-10 in Kansas City. The fast-paced agenda included talks from biotech defender Dr. Kevin Folta and philanthropist Howard G. Buffett, an appearance by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and the annual Trade Talk featuring over 100 agribusiness companies and organizations. This virtual ag newsroom is courtesy of …

AFBF Endorses Farmers for Free Trade

American Farm Bureau Federation Zippy Duvall took part in a press conference this week to support Farmers for Free Trade, a bipartisan campaign to rebuild support for trade at the grassroots level. Farmers for Free Trade, led by former Senators Max Baucus and Richard Lugar, is a bipartisan, non-profit organization that informs, mobilizes and amplifies the voice of U.S. farmers …

2017 World Dairy Expo

“Discovering New Dairy Worlds” was the theme for World Dairy Expo 2017 in Madison, Wisconsin October 3-7. World Dairy Expo serves as a forum for dairy producers, companies, organizations and other dairy enthusiasts to come together to compete, and to exchange ideas, knowledge, technology, and commerce. This virtual ag newsroom is sponsored by Alltech and Hubbard Feeds and includes links …

Ag Export Coalition Urges More Funding for Programs

More than 120 members of the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports are urging leaders of the House Committee on Agriculture to increase funding for USDA export promotion programs in the new farm bill. The coalition ssent a letter asking them to increase funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) to $400 million annually and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) …

Agricultural Export Coalition Calls for Increased Federal Funding for Export Programs

More than 120 members of the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports are urging leaders of the House Committee on Agriculture to increase funding for USDA export programs in the new farm bill to generate additional demand for U.S. farm products in an increasingly competitive global market. In a Sept. 19, 2017 letter to Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX), and …

Statement by Agricultural Export Coalitions in Support of the Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports (CREAATE) Act in the U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports and the Agribusiness Coalition for Foreign Market Development welcome and strongly support passage of S. 1839, the Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports (CREAATE) Act, introduced Tuesday by Sen. Angus King (I-ME), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). …

NFU Announces Biofuels Initiative

National Farmers Union (NFU) has announced an initiative “to advance federal policies that support homegrown and home-produced renewable energy sources.” The effort follows a special order of business that was passed by delegates to the NFU 115th Anniversary Convention in March supporting expanded markets for higher blends of ethanol, like E30, and advanced biofuels. NFU’s initiative is supported by all …

Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report

The Pork Checkoff hosted the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report on Thursday, June 29, 2017. This quarterly teleconference featured three agricultural economists and their reactions to the report. Panelists included: Dr. Lee Schulz, Extension Livestock Economist, Iowa State University Dr. Scott Brown, Assistant Extension Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia Joe Kerns, President, Kerns & Associates, Ames, IA Reports seemed to …

Ag Groups Provide NAFTA Input

A number of agricultural organizations provided their input to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) this week regarding the upcoming negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “NAFTA has been overwhelmingly beneficial for the vast majority of farmers and ranchers across the U.S. for decades,” said Colorado Farm Bureau President Don Shawcroft in comments on …