In a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Roberts (R-Kan.), Sens. Coburn (R-Okla.) and Durbin (D-Ill.) have called for a $40,000 payment limit to be imposed on crop insurance premium subsidies....More
The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent decision to withdraw the proposed rule dealing with family farms and child labor calmed a months-long storm in rural America....More
Anticipation is building for 2012 farm bill action in the coming weeks, with reauthorization before the current bill’s expiration on Sept. 30 looking possible. ...More
A week after the Senate Agriculture Committee completed its work on the farm bill, the National Corn Growers Association and more than 120 agricultural and other organizations sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell....More
The Textile and Apparel Alliance for the TPP (TAAT) expressed deep appreciation to the 76 U.S. Representatives who sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Ron Kirk stressing the need for job-creating textile rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)....More
It occurred to me recently, while reading yet another meaningless apology from a celebrity who “Tweeted” something inappropriate, that we’ve become a nation of people who apologize too quickly for the most insignificant things, but who find it difficult to admit when we’re wrong about something that really matters....More
In response to significant feedback from the agriculture industry, the U.S. Department of Labor announced late Thursday that it would withdraw its proposed rule that would have tightened restrictions on children under the age of 16 working on farms....More
American Soybean Industry partner the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) called on Congress Thursday to reinstate the biodiesel tax incentive to avoid further disruption to an emerging American industry that is creating jobs across the country while diversifying U.S. energy supplies....More
House Agriculture Committee subcommittees met this week to review conservation, rural development and dairy programs, starting an eight-hearing series prior to full Committee consideration of a farm bill draft. ...More
Texas farmer and president of the Western Peanut Growers Association Jimbo Grissom recently told a Senate panel that U.S. peanut producers support two provisions for a new farm bill — an equitable risk management tool and a “producer choice” crop program....More
Legislators considering significant cuts in farm program benefits, including slashing funding for federal crop insurance, would do well to think about how many farmers would have been ruined by last summer’s historic drought without an adequate crop insurance program....More
With good crops and good prices in 2011, many Mississippi farmers were able to pay off or substantially pay down loans, says Abbott Myers, chairman of the board of Mississippi Land Bank....More
This week, the National Association of Farm Broadcasters’ 2012 Washington Watch attendees enjoyed the chance to learn about water quality and farming in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed during a tour of Corn Board Member Chip Bowling’s farm....More
Almost anyone who works in corporate America nowadays is subject to performance reviews, most often on an annual basis, to evaluate strengths and weaknesses and set goals for doing better....More
While the 2012 farm bill draft released by the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 20 has received praise from some farm organizations, the bravo chorus is certainly lacking a Southern twang....More
Numerous provisions of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft farm bill follow the American Farm Bureau Federation’s core principles for “rational, acceptable farm policy,” but there is room for adjustments to improve the legislation....More
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow has released a new draft farm bill that would eliminate direct payments, but increase risk management provisions while reducing farm program expenditures by $23 billion....More
Texas cotton producer Woody Anderson says Congress needs to approve a new farm bill this year and one that will provide American farmers the key to long-term viability — effective risk management opportunities....More
