The Senate Agriculture Committee will meet this week to consider a draft bill proposed by Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) to address labeling for genetically modified foods. Roberts calls the Biotechnology Labeling Solutions legislation draft “a framework to find a solution for a patchwork of laws.” With a labeling law in Vermont set to be implement in July, Roberts says they …
CIRB Talks Changes in Crop Insurance
Brandon Willis, an administrator at the USDA’s Risk Management Agency, recently addressed the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau’s annual meeting and talked about the changes crop insurance has undergone. Some of those changes include lower premiums for beginning farmers and ranchers. That group saved $12 million in insurance premiums last year, allowing them to have more coverage than they otherwise …
Corn Growers Focused on Expanding Trade
Remarks made by National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Chip Bowling at the U.S. Grains Council’s 13th International Marketing Conference this week emphasized the importance of trade to corn growers. “We have set an ambitious goal of building demand in the years ahead, and it’s a goal we cannot meet without looking outside our nation’s borders,” Bowling said. “Exports or …
Celebrate National FFA Week
Next week, February 20-27, more than half a million students will celebrate the role of agriculture in our daily lives. National FFA Week encourages students to raise awareness and share the message of agriculture throughout the country. The week, chosen to encompass George Washington’s birthday, runs Saturday to Saturday. The weeklong tradition, which began in 1948, was designated by the …
More Bayer LibertyLink Real Yield Game Winners
Thanks to social media we can share a picture of one of the second round of winners in the Bayer CropScience LibertyLink Real Yield Game. Here’s Bill Graff who won a year’s supply of LibertyLink Soybeans and Liberty herbicide. He’s also going to Commodity Classic! So here’s the list of final winners: Winner #4 William Graff, Illinois Year’s supply Winner …
Vilsack Makes 7th Appearance at Commodity Classic
The 2016 Commodity Classic will play host to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. In his seventh visit to the nation’s largest farmer-led, farmer-focused convention and trade show the secretary will give the keynote address during the General Session on Friday, March 4th. “Secretary Vilsack continues to be a strong voice for farmers and ranchers, and we are jazzed …
Nancy DeLong Named Interim Director of CTIC
Nancy DeLong will be serving as interim executive director of the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) Board of Directors. She will begin her new post on February 22, when Karen Scanlon leaves to join Dairy Management, Inc. “Nancy is the perfect choice for CTIC’s interim executive director,” said Alan Ayers of Bayer CropScience, CTIC board chair. “She knows the organization, …
USDA Secretary at #Ethanol Conference
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the National Ethanol Conference this week for the last time in the position he has held under President Obama for both terms. During his appearance, Vilsack announced some good news for the ethanol industry – new research showing significant improvement in ethanol production efficiency. According to the study, between 1991 and 2010, direct energy use …
FMC Highlights Ethos XB at #NFMS16
All farmers want to protect and nurture every seed from the moment they place it in the ground, and that is exactly what FMC’s Ethos XB is designed to do. With planting season just around the corner, FMC portfolio manager Rick Ekins was telling growers at the National Farm Machinery Show last week about this insecticide/fungicide in-furrow solution that offers …
Pollinators Part of @GROWMARK Endure Program
Protecting pollinators is part of the GROWMARK sustainability initiative called ENDURE. “Sustainability is a very hot topic in the world today,” said GROWMARK Director of Strategic Agronomy Marketing Lance Ruppert. “As a company we’re trying to look at our internal actions to be sustainable as a system and get that message out.” Because pollinator health is so critical, Ruppert says …