U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA®) has just released a new animated video short and educational infographics highlighting sustainable farming and ranching practices to help answer questions consumers have about how food is grown and raised, including questions about sustainability practices on and around farms and ranches. “Sustainability is a vital part of our everyday lives as farmers and ranchers, …
AgCareers.com Offers Leadership Enhancement Workshop
AgCareers.com has a Leadership Enhancement Workshop coming up next month in Omaha for managers interested in taking their leadership to the next level. This face-to-face workshop is rooted in sound leadership theory but is paired with a unique hands-on, fun approach to reinforce learning principles in a memorable and enriching manner. Participants will gain a holistic view of the importance …
Atrazine Comment Deadline This Week
Growers and other interested stakeholders have until Wednesday of this week to make comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on its review of the herbicide atrazine, which includes a recommendation that could result in a loss of this crop protection tool. Atrazine is currently under EPA registration review, which is required for all pesticides every 15 years to update and …
Shake Up on NAFB Board
If you are a member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB), you probably received an email yesterday from the organization that there will be a special election at the annual convention next month to replace Tony St. James as 2017 NAFB president. According to the email, This action is the direct result of the NAFB Board of Directors’ …
Where’s the #Peanut Emoji?
Most people who are active on social media know what an emoji is – those cute little images used in text messages, Twitter and Facebook posts. They started many years ago with the simple smiley or sad face made from the combination of colons and parentheses like this – 🙂 Now emojis are everywhere, and they’ve evolved well beyond facial …
Congress Ratifies Treaty Tied to Global Food Security
Congress made history last night by finally passing a broadly-supported international treaty to strengthen American agriculture and enhance global food security, an action endorsed by the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). First signed by President George W. Bush, and pending for nearly 15 years, the now ratified International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (“The Treaty”) will …
Bayer Allows Belt Decision to Stand
The Crop Science division of Bayer today announced its final decision on whether to contest EPA’s cancellation of the insecticide flubendiamide, marketed under the trade name Belt. Charlotte Sanson, director of registrations for the company, says they “will not engage in further legal dispute” over the matter. “Nevertheless we will continue to stand up for our growers’ access to safe, …
Hail to the New #Soybean King
Randy Dowdy of Georgia already broke corn yield records with nearly 504 bushels per acre in 2014. Now he has claimed the world record soybean yield title with 171 bushels per acre, topping Kip Cullers’ previous soybean yield record of 160 set back in 2010. “As growers, sometimes we make high yields and sometimes we don’t,” said Dowdy at a …
Bill Would Help Grow Urban Farming
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) this week introduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016 to “addresses the unique needs of urban farmers by investing new resources and increasing flexibility through existing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).” Senator Stabenow announced her legislation Monday during a press conference at D-Town Farm in Detroit. “Urban agriculture …
Candidates Give Views on #Ag Issues
While the candidates may weigh in during tonight’s debate on issues such as immigration and trade, which are important to agriculture, it’s not likely they will address topics such as the farm bill and biotechnology. So, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) went to both nominees and asked them the same questions on a number of issues that concern farmers …