Idaho potato farmer Jim Tiede took over as the new president of the National Potato Council last week during the 2016 Potato Expo in Las Vegas. Tiede is a third generation farmer from American Falls, Idaho who is looking forward to focusing on important issues to potato growers in the coming year, including TPP, WOTUS, and transportation. “We’re looking at …
Farmers Increase Profits with Solar Leases
You hear some news about farmers receiving payments for leasing land for wind turbines, but some growers are also receiving lease payments for solar power projects. For example, Farmland Partners recently entered into two ground lease agreements for photovoltaic solar power generation facilities on two farms in South Carolina. The agreements offer the right to lease up to an aggregate …
Economist Reports to #AFBF16
Weak crop prices and a dramatic decline in livestock prices lead to a decrease in the 2015 farm net income, according to an economist from the Federal Reserve Bank, Nathan Kauffman. Since 2013 farm income has actually dropped by 55 percent, Kauffman recently told attendees of the American Farm Bureau Federation‘s 97th Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show. “I don’t …
AGree Tells Prez Candidates to Focus on Ag & Food Policies
A coalition of stakeholders in the food and agriculture systems is urging the presidential candidates to focus on the policies that can improve the health of America’s families, economy, farms and the environment. In this news release from AGree, the call includes a strategy for elevating food and agriculture as a national priority. “Many people don’t realize the degree to …
#PotatoExpo is Big Event
Since I had never been to the Potato Expo before I had no idea what to expect so I was surprised to find out what a huge event it really is! Randy Hardy of Idaho is past chairman of the National Potato Board and was one of the co-chairs of the expo. “I was in on the initial thought process …
Bee Buzz at #PotatoExpo
There was a lot of buzz about bees at the 2016 Potato Expo this week in Las Vegas. The National Potato Council announced this week that they are joining the Bayer CropScience Feed a Bee initiative as an official partner committing to enlist America’s potato farmers to help feed bees. Dr. Becky Langer, manager of the North American Bee Care …
Federal Grants Workshop at #AFBF16
Navigating the federal grant system was the topic of a workshop at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 97th Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show. Decisions about whether a farm or agribusiness can or should apply for a federal grant requires significant foresight and self-analysis, according to grant-writing and rural entrepreneurship experts who spoke at the workshop. A value-added support team …
AFBF Patriot Project
The Farm Bureau Patriot Project, a mentoring program that connects military veterans interested in agricultural careers with experienced farmers and ranchers to help them develop professional networking and business planning skills, was a featured workshop during the AFBF 97th Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show this week in Orlando. Military veterans in production agriculture are finding that the farming and …
Ag Secy Vilsack Talks SOTU, Trade & Climate
USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack held a press call yesterday to discuss President Obama’s last State of the Union (SOTU) address. Vilsack, who has served in the capacity of Ag Secretary throughout Obama’s Administration, was in attendance during the speech. He said he is very proud to have been part of an administration that has basically taken the country from …
NuFarm Working to Tame the Zebra
Chip, the Nufarm zebra has been roaming the rows at the 2016 Potato Expo this week with a goal of educating attendees about new research into fighting zebra chip. Zebra chip is a potato disease vectored by a psyllid, according to Bob Bruss with Nufarm technical services. “This is a problem that’s been slowly growing and has become more of …