The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food (CFSAF), which has been actively campaigning on behalf of food and agriculture groups for a sensible national labeling standard for genetically modified foods, was one of the first organizations to praise Senate passage of the Roberts-Stabenow compromise legislation. “The Senate has provided all Americans a transparent and consistent system of disclosure that will give …
#Biobased2016 Helps Build Demand for #Soybeans
Lewis Bainbridge is a farmer from South Dakota who serves on the United Soybean Board and is one of the stars of a new video touting the benefits of biobased products for the nation – Red, White and Biobased. “That video is a neat tie-in to show different partnerships,” he told me during the Biobased Stakeholders’ Dialogue this week in …
Senate Passes #GMO Disclosure Bill
Late Thursday evening, the U.S. Senate voted 63-30 to pass the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard that preempts individual state laws to require labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients. Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow spent 24 minutes before the vote laying out logical reasons for the legislation, not the least of which was that it requires the …
Secretary Vilsack Addresses #Biobased2016
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was the keynote speaker at the United Soybean Board 2016 Biobased Stakeholders’ Dialogue at USDA headquarters today. Vilsack was impressed with the wide range of biobased products on display at the event. “You all are helping to transition our entire economy,” he said. He called the whole biobased products initiative over the past several years a …
Meet the 2016 FFA New Century Farmers
The National FFA Organization has selected 33 young people as participants in the 2016 New Century Farmer conference, an exclusive, highly competitive program designed to develop the young men and women committed to pursuing a career in production agriculture. Participants will attend an intensive seminar this month in Johnstown, Iowa, where they will learn from industry experts during a series …
FB Challenge Moves Into Judging Phase
Entry submissions are now closed for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) third annual Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge, and AFBF is pleased to announce that they have received 355 applications from 39 states. “We are ecstatic and pleased with the great applications and innovations occurring in rural communities across the country!” said Dr. Lisa Benson, AFBF’s director of rural development. “We …
Illinois Ag Communications Releases Promo Video
Rhea + Kaiser (R+K) has produced a new video that promotes the expected and unexpected opportunities awaiting students and graduates of the Agricultural Communications Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The video features candid interviews with Ag Communications students and alumni, and will be utilized on social and digital channels as well as recruitment meetings at high schools …
Senate Advances #GMO Labeling Bill
Not intimidated by anti-GMO activists throwing $2000 in “Monsanto Money” on the floor, the U.S. Senate Wednesday voted 65-31 to limit debate on a bipartisan National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard that would preempt individual state laws to require labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients. With cloture invoked, the Senate is expected vote on final passage as early as today. …
IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders Ready for 2016 Boot Camp
It is almost time for the 2016 IFAJ Congress in Bonn, Germany. I’m making final preparations for the trip thanks to our sponsor, Bayer. In advance of the Congress there are some pre-tours as well as some additional activities that include the journalism Master Class sponsored by Dupont and the Boot Camp. The Boot Camp participants are winner of the …
About My iPad Pro
Hello from my iPad Pro. I’m using it for this post because I wanted to write about my experience using the new iPad. If I was not able to successfully use it for this purpose it would have been a big fail. The question I wanted to answer is, “Can I replace my MacBook Pro with the iPad Pro, at …