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 …
Missouri Soy Partners to Develop Non-GMO High Oleic Tech
The Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council‘s efforts to grow farmers’ return on their soy checkoff investments have taken another leap forward. The leaders of Missouri’s premier organization for soybean research formalized a key partnership to bring Missouri’s non-GMO high oleic soybean technology to growers. The agreement, signed and recognized today with a ceremony at the Bay Farm Research Facility outside Columbia, …
2017 Water for Food Global Conference
Welcome to the virtual newsroom for the 2017 Water for Food Global Conference held April 10-12, 2017 at the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln, Nebraska. The event brings together over 400 researchers, practitioners, policymakers, farmers, faculty, students, thought leaders and industry experts to explore “Water for Food Security: From Local Lessons to Global Impacts,” a theme inspired by the notion …
SMART Farmer Galen Lee
Galen Lee has a diversified 4th generation farm operation in southwest Idaho that produces sugarbeets, asparagus, and peppermint, as well as dairy and beef. In this edition of the SMART Farmer podcast, he talks about how sugarbeets are raised and made into sugar and how biotech varieties have made them more sustainable. He also talks about how he raises peppermint …
Peanut and Cotton Growers Provide Farm Bill Input
Peanut and cotton growers provided their input into commodity programs in the next farm bill during a hearing this week before the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. Georgia farmer Tim McMillan testified on behalf of the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation in support of maintaining the peanut provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill and the …
Canadian Trade Policy Delivers Blow to Wisconsin Dairies
Over 70 Wisconsin dairy operations are already feeling the blow from a protectionist Canadian trade policy that has slammed the door on American dairy exports, violated existing trade commitments, and left farmers across the state scrambling to find milk buyers. Grassland Dairy Products Inc. informed over 70 operations this week that their contracts with the company will end May 1st, …
USFRA Panel Looks At The Future of Protein
Future Food-Tech took place in San Francisco last week and brought together over 300 food business technology leaders, investors and food-tech innovators. Brad Greenway, Chairman, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) sat on a panel titled, “Creating Consumer Demand for Healthier and More Sustainable Ingredients.” As the sole panelist who represented the animal agriculture community, Brad was able to share …
Senate Urged to Vote on USDA Secretary
As the agriculture industry continues to operate without leadership at the USDA, industry groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), have been urging the Senate to vote this weekand confirm Sonny Perdue as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture before recessing for spring break. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN) have also urged Congress …
Experts to Share Ideas at Water for Food Conference
The 2017 Water for Food Global Conference will welcome a record 100 speakers and global experts to share ideas and help find solutions to the world’s pressing water and food security needs. The flagship event of the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, held in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and …