As both the House and Senate Agriculture committees are marking up their versions of a farm bill this week, that was the number one issue for farm broadcasters meeting in the nation’s capitol for their annual Washington Watch. Mary Kay Thatcher with the American Farm Bureau Federation sees few major differences between the two committee drafts released last week. “If …
AgFanatics Talk Farm Bill
For episode #25 of the AgFanatics podcast, Doug Yoder, Senior Director of Affiliate & Risk Management at the Illinois Farm Bureau, shares his insight into where the current farm bill stands and what he sees happening moving forward. Listen closely to the numbers Doug provides regarding crop insurance premiums and payouts. Also, Doug shares a little bit about what he …
Farm Bureau Sends Up Farm Bill Proposal
The American Farm Bureau Federation sent a farm bill proposal to Capitol Hill this week that offers a diverse mix of risk management and safety net tools to benefit a wide range of farms and it saves $23 billion compared to the cost of continuing the current program. “We’ve tried to look at providing farmers a three-legged safety net stool …
NCBA’s Work In Washington
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is hard at work advocating for beef producers year-round, but during the Cattle Industry Convention they get to hear with cattlemen and women from across the country. During this year’s event I talked with Colin Woodall, Vice President of Government Affairs for NCBA. To start off our chat I asked him about some of the …
Meet NCBA President-Elect Scott George
During the second general session at the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention, NCBA President-Elect, Scott George, made a huge product announcement for Apple. Keeping up with the pirate themed event, Scott introduced the iPatch and the trend is quickly catching on. The passing of the gavel takes place tomorrow as current NCBA President J.D. Alexander hands over the reins to Scott …
Farm Policy Facts Relaunches Education Campaign
A diverse coalition of agricultural organizations that came together during the 2008 Farm Bill debate under the name Farm Policy Facts announced that they are stepping up education activities during the 113th Congress. Farm Policy Facts will communicate with the media and members of Congress via regular email alerts that will include a mix of farm policy news, detailed analysis …
Vilsack to Host #AskUSDA Twitter Chat
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will host a live Virtual Office Hours session next week on Twitter to answer questions on the important role of rural America to the national and global economy, increasing agricultural opportunities in U.S. communities, and the importance of passing a five-year Farm Bill. According to USDA, Secretary Vilsack will answer Twitter queries such as: • What …
Economic Outlook for Pork Industry
Pork producers were well represented at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talk. I sat down with National Pork Producers Council economist, Steve Meyer. Steve shared his thoughts on the 2012 growing season, as well as his outlook for our next fiscal year. “It’s been a tough year because of the cost of production. The drought drove corn …
US Wheat Associates Fight For Farm Bill
US Wheat Associates sat down with me during the National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talk to discuss how their checkoff dollars are used to promote and market US wheat and what the lack of a farm bill come January will mean to US wheat producers. Dan Hughes, Vice Chairman for US Wheat Associates, shared his passion for the industry …
Ag Group Leaders Trade Talk on Policy
Having the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting start the day after a presidential election gives leaders of agricultural organizations plenty to talk about at Trade Talk. In this edition of the ZimmCast, we hear from farmer leaders, lobbyists and staff members with eight different agricultural and renewable energy organizations commenting on the election, farm bill, fiscal cliff and …