House and Senate agriculture leaders on Monday released their conference report on a new five-year farm bill that pleases some agricultural interests who just want to get it done, but distressed others. According to a news release from the House Agriculture Committee, the compromise bill “contains major reforms, including eliminating the direct payments program, streamlining and consolidating numerous programs to …
BASF Zidua® Herbicide Gets Registration for Wheat
Wheat growers now have a new class of chemistry to fight Italian ryegrass. BASF just announced that Zidua® herbicide has received federal registration from the Environmental Protection Agency for spring and winter wheat. Zidua herbicide provides wheat growers with a powerful tool to fight tough to control weeds like Italian ryegrass, annual bluegrass and canarygrass. In addition, Zidua herbicide suppresses …
Consumer Demand Drives Poultry Processing
A large Chick-fil-A sign welcomes attendees to the 2014 International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta, claiming the city to be the “chicken eating capitol of the world” in cow speak. That may or may not be entirely true, but it is certainly the center of the poultry processing world this week. To kick off the event, Novus International hosted …
Novus at Production and Processing Expo
Once again we are pleased to bring you coverage of the International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, courtesy of our friends at Novus International. IPPE is the new name for the combination of International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo, and International Meat Expo, which all integrated together in 2013. The 2014 IPPE will bring together more than 1,100 …
Ethanol Policy Important to Illinois FB
New Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert took an active role in the policy development session at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting this week in San Antonio. “I’ve always enjoyed policy and being a part of Illinois Farm Bureau and the policy making decisions,” said Guebert, who was elected to replace Phillip Nelson as president of the organization …
AFBF Sets Policy for 2014
Voting delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 95th annual meeting concluded this week by approving resolutions that will provide the organization with its marching orders in 2014 on unfinished business like the farm bill and immigration, as well as setting policy on new issues such as drones and agricultural data. “Congress is still haggling over dairy policy, but for …
Passing of Gary Wilhelmi
Sad to hear that long-time market analyst Gary Wilhelmi has passed away. We remember spending so much time with him on the phone during our days at Brownfield when he would do the midday market analysis. Will always fondly recall his droll sense of humor and great sense of what the markets were doing. Rest in Peace, friend. Here’s the …
Not-so-beardless Duck Dynasty Brother at AFBF
He’s been called the “beardless brother” of the Robertson clan, but he had a full face of fur at the Farm Bureau meeting this week, albeit not quite the ZZ Top look the other “Duck Dynasty” males sport. As the newest member of the “Duck Dynasty” cast, Alan Robertson told thousands of farmers and ranchers that his reason for joining …
AFBF Awards
The opening general session at the American Farm Bureau annual meeting is always awards time and there were plenty presented on Sunday, starting with the Distinguished Service Awards which were presented this year to to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Dr. Abner Womack. Sen. Lugar served in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and was a member of the Agriculture …
AFBF Convention Social Communicating
An estimated 7,000 farm and ranch leaders from around the country are heading to San Antonio this weekend for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 95th Annual Convention (Twitter hashtag #AFBF14). The meeting begins January 12 and runs through January 15 in San Antonio. Numerous speakers will be on hand to address topics, ranging from crop and livestock outlooks to farm …