October is National Cooperative Month and 2012 is the the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives, so it is extra special to celebrate record farm cooperative income in 2011. USDA released the latest statistics today, showing that farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives posted record sales of $213 billion and $5.4 billion in net income, surpassing the previous record sales year …
Ag Secretary Vilsack at World Dairy Expo
It’s opening day at World Dairy Expo. We’ve got beautiful weather and we’ve got a special visitor. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is holding an open town hall meeting. Here he is being welcomed by Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Ben Brancel. I’ll update this post with audio from the session here as soon as I can after the meeting …
USDA Lowers Grain Stocks
USDA’s Quarterly Grain Stocks report out this morning shows declines in stocks of corn, soybeans and wheat compared to this time last year. The report shows corn stocks down 12% from September 2011, soybean stocks down 21% and all wheat stocks down 2%. Old crop corn stocks in all positions on September 1, 2012 totaled 988 million bushels, soybeans totaled …
Fuel Prices Are Impacting Farms and Businesses
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Have high fuel prices had an impact on your farm/business?” Our poll results: Sixty-four percent said Yes, big impact on our budget; fourteen percent said Yes, minimal impact on our budget; twelve percent said No, not yet; and ten percent said No, don’t expect any. Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the …
Push Back on New School Lunches
Healthier school lunches, required for the first time this year, are getting some push back from students and teachers across the USA who say they are still hungry after eating the noon meal. A new YouTube video parody, created by two teachers and some high school students in Kansas, has students singing We Are Hungry as they try to make …
New School Lunch Getting Failing Grades
The bell had barely begun to ring in the new school year when complaints starting coming in about USDA’s “healthier” school lunch menu guidelines and the chorus is getting louder. The new guidelines feature lots more healthy fresh fruits and veggies, which is great, but they also cut the portion sizes and the amount of protein served to students, which …
House Says No to Farm Bill Now
No farm bill for now. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) told reporters last week before Congress called it quits that they would deal with a farm bill after the election because he did not believe there were 218 votes to pass either an extension or new legislation. “The current situation that we face is that we’ve got people …
USDA Expands Drought Assistance
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $11.8 million in additional financial and technical assistance to help crop and livestock producers in 22 states apply conservation practices that reduce the impacts of drought and improve soil health and productivity. The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides this assistance through its Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). …
USDA Changing Report Release Times in 2013
USDA is changing the release time of certain key statistical reports beginning in January 2013. The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) will begin issuing several major USDA statistical reports at 12:00 p.m. EDT beginning in January 2013. The current USDA release time of 8:30 a.m. EDT …
Ag Sec. Vilsack Announces Beginning Farmers Grants
New USDA grants to support beginning farmers were announced by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on the final day of the Farm Progress Show. Sec. Vilsack held a a press conference in the New Holland media tent. “In the past few decades, U.S. agriculture has become the second most productive sector of the American economy thanks to farmers adopting …