Presidential Hopeful Huckabee: Energy as Weapon

The CNN Republican Presidential Candidates debate from Las Vegas this week was focused entirely on national security issues, but the word biofuels was actually uttered by one of the candidates who put forth the idea of using energy as a weapon. “We ought to be challenging not only Russia, but the Iranians and the Saudis, on the point of energy,” …

Philippines-EU Trade Agreement Topic of USMEF Report

The latest U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Report discusses the recent announcement by Philippine officials that the country expresses interest in pursuing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU), with hopes to launch formal FTA negotiations early next year. In the report, Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president for the Asia Pacific region, explains how this agreement …

Why AgriBusinesses Should Have a Crisis Plan

A recent ZimmComm poll asked the question, “Does your agribusiness/operation have a crisis communications plan?” and 39 percent said “no” and “didn’t see a need”. To learn more about why ALL agribusinesses should have a crisis communications plan, Joanna Schroeder reached out to a highly respected and well known crisis firm, Wixted & Company, and spoke with Principal and Founder …

Trump and Cruz Talk Ethanol in Iowa

During an appearance at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Friday, Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump talked about his support for ethanol and how his primary rival in the state, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, supports oil. “He’s got to come a long way because he’s right now for the oil,” Trump said. “If Ted Cruz is against ethanol, how …

United Soybean Board Conference Call

The United Soybean Board is holding it’s board meeting in St. Louis, MO and held a press conference call this morning. You can listen in below if you’d like. Kicking off the call was Jared Hagert, new Chairman of USB. He was joined by several other officers. They all answered questions posed by ag media representatives. The USB Strategic Plan …

2015 North American PRRS Symposium

Chicago hosted the 2015 North American PRRS Symposium December 5-6 and Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. hosted a session on “Combatting the Latest PRRS Cycle.” Learn about the new emerging strains of PRRS, field experiences in control and management, epidemiology at the regional level and hear from Area Regional coordinators. 2015 BIVI PRRS Seminar Photo Album – Combatting Latest PRRS Cycle …

Windy City Welcomes #ASTACSS Conference

Seed industry representatives from around the globe are gathered in the Windy City this week for the 70th Corn and Sorghum Seed Research Conference, 45th Soybean Seed Research Conference, and Seed Expo 2015 – better known as CSS 2015 and Seed Expo. The event was held December 7-11, 2015 with more than 2,900 diverse people from across the globe at …

2015 Ag Retailers Conference & Expo

The 2015 Agricultural Retailers Association Conference & Expo is being held this week in Palm Desert, California with the theme of “Performance. Precision. Passion.” Presentations and discussions at the ARA Conference & Expo will feature topics such as sustainability within the food-chain, water issues, fertilizer trends, financial movements in the ag sector and personal health and wellness. The conference will …

Biodiesel Board Outlines Positives in #RFS Rule

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is very pleased with the final rule on volume obligations for biodiesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) released this week by EPA. Under the rule, Biomass-based Diesel volumes would grow to 1.9 billion gallons in 2016 and 2 billion gallons in 2017. The Biomass-based Diesel category – a diesel subset of the overall Advanced …

Reaction to Final #RFS Numbers from @EthanolRFA

The Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule for volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) “puts the future of biofuels and climate policy in the hands of the oil industry,” according to Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen. Listen to interview here:

Growth Energy Reacts Positively to Improved #RFS

Growth Energy reacted positively to the improved and final renewable volume obligation numbers (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) released by the EPA during a press call. On the call, Tom Buis, Growth Energy co-chairman, said that on behalf of its members, Growth was specifically pleased that the RVOs have been finalized after such a long delay and that …

EPA Releases Final RFS RVOs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a media call to announce the final volume requirements (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard program for 2014, 2015 and 2016. The EPA also discussed the final RVOs for biomass-based diesel for 2014-2017. On the call was Janet McCabe, acting Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation who noted, technologies for …

RFA Discusses Ethanol’s Climate Impacts on Media Call

On a press conference call today hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) leading experts in the field of lifecycle greenhouse gas analysis and agricultural land use discussed the climate impacts of ethanol production and use, compared to the impacts of petroleum and other energy alternatives. Speakers also addressed what they called flawed arguments made by ethanol opponents—including Timothy Searchinger …

Growth Introduces Ethanol Ad Featuring Celeb Chris Soules

On a press conference call today Growth Energy and Iowa Farmer Chris Soules of “The Bachelor” and “Dancing with the Stars” fame announced a new week-long television ad featuring Soules on the economic benefits of ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in rural America. The ad hits airwaves just days before the Obama Administration is due to announce its …

CFI Study on Consumer Trust in Food

New research from the Center for Food Integrity (CFI) shows that improved transparency increases consumer trust in food. CFI CEO Charlie Arnot says they surveyed 2,000 people to discover which attributes are most important to consumers when it comes to trust-building transparency – policies, practices, performance or verification – and found that practices are most important. The Center for Food …