Industry Ag News 5/20

Carrie Muehling

  • Recently the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) presented Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Sen. Todd Young of Indiana with its Legislator of the Year Award. The award is an annual ARA tradition that serves to recognize one or more legislators who have championed issues that impact agricultural retailers and the entire agriculture industry.
  • From farm to frontline, the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) is taking another giant leap forward to highlight environmentally friendly investments from the soybean checkoff. MSR&PC, which directs the state’s soybean checkoff resources, is launching the Stepping Up campaign to amplify farmer profitability and promote the value-added uses of the “miracle bean” while making community connections.
  • Approximately one in four farmers struggle with mental health issues. National Corn Growers Association asks farmers, their families, and the people they do business with to look for signs. NCGA’s Member and Consumer Engagement Action Team (MCEAT) distributed a short, one-minute video asking our industry partners to assist in this effort.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by natural disaster events in 2020 and 2021 will soon begin receiving emergency relief payments totaling approximately $6 billion through the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) new Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to offset crop yield and value losses.
  • After two years of offering a hybrid program, the GROWMARK/FS System is pleased to welcome its newest class of interns back in-person for the complete immersive experience. Seventy-four interns were selected during a rigorous application process and are now working hands-on at GROWMARK and FS-company locations across North America.
  • The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol announced that grower participation for the 2021/22 crop doubled since the program’s pilot last year. The Trust Protocol’s mission is to bring quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to the key sustainability metrics of U.S. cotton production.
  • Applications are now open for the 2022-2023 Maryland Farm Bureau Ambassador program, a scholarship and leadership development initiative for Maryland’s Farm Bureau member-families. After receiving entries from the county Farm Bureaus, the state Farm Bureau will choose one female and one male ambassador to represent Maryland Farm Bureau and the importance of agriculture’s role in the state from December 2022 – December 2023.
  • With many countries around the globe relaxing restrictions and showing signs of recovery from the pandemic, demand for U.S. potato exports is strong in many markets. During the first three quarters of the marketing year (July 2021-March 2022), overall U.S. potato and potato product exports increased from the same period one year earlier.
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