The 2015 Chicken Media Summit took place on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The event brought together journalists, bloggers, dietitians and many others representing the poultry industry. The National Chicken Council and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association brought the unique group together to open the doors for a day of touring a hatchery, chicken farm and processing facility. Great dialogue was started …
White House Climate Initiative Announced
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and presidential advisor Brian Deese visited Michigan State University Thursday to announce a comprehensive national strategy to partner with farmers, ranchers and forest land owners to address the threat of climate change. The new initiative, “Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture & Forestry”, will utilize voluntary, incentive-based conservation, forestry, and energy programs to reduce greenhouse gas …
Global Soybean Stakeholders Discuss Biotech
Representatives from U.S. soybean-farmer-led organizations held a telephone press conference Thursday from China where they will be joining their counterparts from several other countries to discuss the biotech-approval process there. United Soybean Board (USB) chairman Bob Haselwood of Kansas, the American Soybean Association (ASA) president Wade Cowan of Texas, and the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) chair Laura Foell of …
Industry Addresses New H5N2 Outbreaks
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) provided an update on highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza outbreaks via a press conference this morning. This comes after the recent confirmed case on an Iowa egg farm. USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford, CDC Medical Officer Dr. Alicia Fry and USDA Southeast Poultry Research Director David Swayne …
2015 National Agri-Marketing Conference
The 2015 National Agri-Marketing Conference was held April 15-17 in Kansas City with the theme “Growing Greatness”. The conference included a variety of networking sessions, industry speakers, and breakout sessions, as well as the annual Best of NAMA awards ceremony and Connection Point trade show. Photos: 2015 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album Audio: GROWMARK Highlights Intern Program at NAMA – #NAMA15 …
Biofuels Supporters Meet With Hillary Clinton
During her visit to Iowa this week, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton discussed the Renewable Fuel Standard with farmer leaders and America’s Renewable Future co-chair Patty Judge, former Iowa lieutenant governor and agriculture secretary. America’s Renewable Future, an Iowa-based coalition formed to educate presidential candidates about biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
AgWorks Software’s New Relationship with CDMS
AgWorks Software, LLC, a leading provider of unified agronomy management software for Agri-Business Retailers, announced a new partnership today with CDMS, Inc. to provide crop protection compliance information within AgWorks’ new unified agronomy software. Greg Duhachek, President of AgWorks says “CDMS represents the most complete and accurate compliance data available today and I am excited to bring access to this …
Cong. Vicky Harzler Interview
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) and 70 House colleagues recently called for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) to be based on sound nutritional science and not areas such as sustainability and tax policy. In this interview, Rep. Hartzler discusses her view of the recent DGA advisory committee report that recommends less meat in the diet. She also talks about …
USDA Official on the Road for Trade
USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Alexis Taylor has been meeting with agricultural stakeholders around the country to talk about the importance of Trade Promotion Authority for the president in expanding international markets for U.S. products. Taylor was in Florida this week and she’s also visited with producers in California, Oregon, Washington, and Pennsylvania. In this …
Propane Program Pays Off for Growers
The Propane Farm Incentive Program paid off for participants last year, according to the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC). In this interview, PERC agricultural director Cinch Munson talks about successes of the 2014 program which provides up to $5,000 toward the purchase of new propane-powered irrigation engines.
Reaction to Prospective Plantings Report
The 2015 Prospective Plantings released by USDA shows declines expected in corn, wheat and cotton acres this year, with only a modest increase in soybean acreage. Randy Martinson with Progressive Ag, who provided commentary on the report for the Minneapolis Grain Exchange crop call, was surprised by some of the numbers.
USDA Announces Ag Conservation Easement Funds
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Natural Resources Conservation Service chief Jason Weller have announced the availability of $332 million in financial and technical assistance through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).
USDA Extends ARC and PLC Deadlines
USDA has extended by one week the deadline for producers to choose between Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), the safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The final day to make the decision, update yield history or reallocate base acres will now be April 7, 2015. Val Dolcini, administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) …
2015 ACE Fly-In
The 2015 American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) brought the troops to Washington D.C. this week to talk with our Nation’s leaders about the importance of the Renewable Fuels Standard. The troops were a diverse group of growers, manufactures, retailers and others in the industry with a keen interest in renewable energy. Photos from the event can be found here: 2015 …
Doane Releases Planting Intentions Survey Results
Doane’s 2015 Planting Intentions Survey was released to subscribers and clients Friday, March 20th. Results from this year’s survey show a continuation of recent trends toward more soybeans and less corn acreage. Last year’s corn acreage declined significantly in 2014, down 4.8 million acres from the 2013 level, just a bit more than the 4.5 million acre decline implied by …