Ranking Member Angie Craig applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture after it announced that an additional $650 million would be made available to support struggling specialty crop producers. On December 18, 2024, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance sent a letter to the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Agricultural Committees requesting additional economic assistance for specialty crop producers. Bicameral Agriculture Democrats responded with a letter that same day to USDA and the Office of Management and Budget, conveying the need to make additional funding available to producers via the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) program.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the appointment or reappointment of 53 members to serve on seven agricultural trade advisory committees. The appointees will serve until December 2028. A complete roster of members and additional information about the committees is available at www.fas.usda.gov/atacs.
Nominate the cream of the crop for the National Agri-Marketing Association Agribusiness Leader of the Year, NAMA Marketer of the Year, Ag Association Leader, or Next Gen NAMA awards. These prestigious awards will be presented at the 2025 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 9-11 in Kansas City. Submit online nomination(s) by January 31, 2025.
AgCareers.com awarded their third annual U.S. Feed Your Future Scholarship to Gabryele Carter, a University of Kentucky student. Carter is a Junior from Delaware studying Agricultural Economics. AgCareers.com created the Feed Your Future $1,000 Scholarship to financially assist a post-secondary student studying agriculture or intending to pursue a career in agriculture. AgCareers.com is committed to Feeding the World with Talent by supporting education and career opportunities in agriculture and food.
Farmers nationwide can maximize savings with the Propane Education & Research Council’s (PERC) latest initiative, the 2025 Propane Farm Research Program (PFRP). Designed to address the evolving challenges of modern agriculture, the program empowers farmers with innovative propane-powered solutions to increase productivity, reduce costs, and promote sustainability. Building on the former Propane Farm Incentive Program, the new PFRP introduces expanded opportunities for agricultural professionals to integrate cutting-edge technology into their operations. With increases of up to $10,000, additional equipment eligibility, and a streamlined application process, the program is more accessible than ever before.
There are more motivated land buyers in today’s market than there are willing sellers, according to Farmers National Company. Despite the pressures created by lower net farm income, declining commodity markets, higher interest rates and increased input costs, land values have remained quite stable across the Midwest. While most university and industry land value reports published at year’s end reflect a flat or slight downward trend compared to production expenses, the stability in those values reveals the resiliency of the land market and its ability to maintain the high values set over the past five years.
Keystone Cooperative, Inc., an Indiana-based leader in agriculture and energy, announces a $68 million patronage distribution to eligible farmer-members who conducted business with the cooperative in 2024. Keystone membership will receive between 80-90 percent of this patronage payment in cash, based on their legacy membership. The remaining percentage will go towards their equity in Keystone. In addition to the cash patronage payout, Keystone will also be redeeming $3.8 million in equity to its farmer-members. This exceptional cash return of over $60 million underscores the cooperative’s strong financial performance and commitment to delivering value to its members.
On January 6, 2025, the Illinois Legislature passed HB 4439 which designates the soybean as Illinois’ official state bean. HB 4439 recognizes the importance of soybeans to the state’s economy and agricultural heritage. Illinois is the No. 1 soybean-producing state in the nation with over 10 million acres of soybeans planted each year, accounting for 16 percent of the total U.S. soy production. HB 4439 acknowledges the contribution of the 43,000 hardworking soybean farmers across the state who feed and fuel the world.
The Georgia Peanut Commission will be promoting peanuts as a poultry feed ingredient at the International Production and Processing Expo hosted at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 28-30, 2025.
