A number of agricultural organizations provided their input to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) this week regarding the upcoming negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “NAFTA has been overwhelmingly beneficial for the vast majority of farmers and ranchers across the U.S. for decades,” said Colorado Farm Bureau President Don Shawcroft in comments on …
Farm Groups Cheer WOTUS Repeal
Ding dong the ditch rule is dead! The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have officially begun the process to withdraw the highly controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) final rule and begin a replacement rulemaking process to gather input and re-evaluate the definition of WOTUS, to cheers from farmers and ranchers nationwide. American Farm …
Syngenta Promotes American Ethanol at NASCAR Race
The NASCAR Xfinity American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen was held Saturday at the Iowa Speedway to help promote ethanol in one of the top producing states. The race marked the fifth year of partnership between Syngenta and Growth Energy to demonstrate the value of E15, which has been powering NASCAR for 10 million miles of competitive racing since …
Florida Hosts 1st House Ag Farm Bill Listening Session
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) hosted the very first House Agriculture Committee farm bill listening session on Saturday in Gainesville, Florida. Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (TX-11) presided over the first of many “Conversations in the Field” that will be held in the coming year as work on the 2018 Farm Bill is just beginning …
ASTA Elects New Leadership
The American Seed Trade Association has been a continuously growing family for the past 134 years, and the family of new chairman Tracy Tally has been a constant at the ASTA annual meeting for many of those years. Tally is president of Justin Seed Company in Justin, Texas, a company founded by his father in 1956. Besides running Justin Seed …
Syngenta Will Appeal Verdict
Syngenta intends to appeal a verdict reached by a Kansas jury last week to award $218 million in compensatory damages to more than 7,000 Kansas corn growers who claim the company caused them economic harm by introducing Agrisure corn before China approved it for import. Syngenta released a statement after the verdict saying they are disappointed “because it will only …
Enogen Presents American Ethanol Race in Iowa
Coming up tomorrow at the Iowa Speedway, Enogen presents the NASCAR XFINITY Series American Ethanol E15 250 for the fifth year. Ron Wulfkuhle is excited to be attending the race for the first time as head of Enogen at Syngenta. “We’ll have about 1200 corn farmers attending as our guests and also we’ll be working with the FFA,” said Wulfuhle. …
RFA’s Cooper Gets High Octane Award
Renewable Fuels Association Senior Vice President Geoff Cooper was recognized with the ethanol industry’s “High Octane Award” during the 2017 Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Minneapolis Tuesday. The award, established in 2000 by BBI International, recognizes a person “who has helped the ethanol industry mature and progress over the years” and “whose passion and unstoppable pursuits have significantly benefited the ethanol …
SMART Farmer US Poultry
In this edition of the SMART Farmer podcast we head south to learn a little bit about poultry production and how it has gotten smarter, more efficient and more sustainable over the years. Monty Henderson started as a broiler service manager with Tyson Foods and later with Campbell Soup Company. He served as president of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and in …
Bayer Launches Sustainability Initiative for Horticulture
To meet the growing need for sustainability information about food, Bayer has introduced Grow On, an initiative to provide growers with tools to identify, implement and communicate sustainable farming practices. Grow On provides citrus, grape, pome and stone fruit, potato, tree nut and vegetable growers with the resources needed to continue to sustainably produce safe, nutritious food for the growing …