Former U.S. agriculture secretaries Mike Johanns and Dan Glickman outlined their support of the proposed Dow-DuPont merger in an op-ed published today in Morning Consult. “Given the current landscape, now more than ever America’s farmers need what Dow and DuPont are proposing – a strong, focused American agriculture company that is American-owned, championing the interests of the American farmer in …
Fishing Tournament Co-Sponsored by #Ethanol
The 2017 Crappie Masters Tournament Trail gets underway today in Florida with a new addition this year – ethanol as a co-title sponsor with Bass Pro Shops. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White says the purpose of the sponsorship is to help spread the word about ethanol to boaters. “It was an excellent opportunity to …
#NBB17 Spotlight on Washington Session
The room was packed for the annual Spotlight on Washington session at the 2017 National Biodiesel Conference last week, which was more popular than ever this year with the advent of a new presidential administration. Reprising their roles for the session were former Sen. Byron Dorgan and former Cong. Kenny Hulshof, and they were joined by other DC insiders Jim …
Ag Reacts to Trump Withdrawal from TPP
The detailed description touting the benefits of the Trans Pacific Partnership is now gone from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) website as President Trump signed an executive order today withdrawing from the trade deal. “With this decision, it is critical that the new administration begin work immediately to do all it can to develop new markets for U.S. agricultural goods …
New Biodiesel Board Chairman from ADM
Kent Engelbrecht of ADM was elected chairman of the National Biodiesel Board in November, marking the first time that company has moved into the leadership position for the organization. “We’ve been involved in biodiesel since 2006,” said Engelbrecht. “We’ve got four plants in North America producing a lot of biodiesel, and that uses a lot of soybean oil, and that …
Most Ag Groups Pleased with Ag Secretary Choice
The agriculture industry had to wait until right up to the end to learn Trump’s choice for Secretary of Agriculture, but now that he’s nominated former Georgia Governor, Sonny Perdue, the agriculture groups seem generally pleased. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association calls him “an excellent pick” to head USDA. “As a lifelong agri-businessman and veterinarian, as well as the two-term governor …
Trump EPA Nominee Questioned on Ag Issues
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt answered questions about regulatory overreach and his support of renewable fuels during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President-elect Donald Trump. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, first asked Pruitt about making sure the agency is “open, …
Trump Ag Secretary Pick Comes at Last Minute
President-elect Donald Trump will officially round out his cabinet by nominating former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture just a little more than 24 hours before the inauguration. As word about the choice spread Wednesday evening, most agricultural groups were waiting until the official announcement to respond, but one of the first was American Farm Bureau president Zippy …
Trump Team Announces Bayer Merger Promises
President-elect Trump’s transition team updated reporters yesterday on the outcome of meetings last week regarding Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto. Trump press secretary Sean Spicer says the president-elect received commitments from Bayer CEO Werner Baumann that they would keep Monsanto in St. Louis and “retain 100 percent of Monsanto’s 9,000-plus U.S. workforce and create at least 3,000 new U.S. high-tech jobs.” …
12 Years of Blogging for Biodiesel
AgWired is on location this week in San Diego for the 14th National Biodiesel Conference, which marks our 12th year blogging for the biodiesel industry. The Biodiesel Conference Blog is a perfect example of what we do best as a company – gathering photos and audio from an event and making it available online quickly for anyone who might want …