It was a sunny day in Iowa Friday for the visit of new Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue at Couser Cattle Company. The Secretary was welcomed by Bill, Nancy and Tim Couser, as well as Iowa Senators Joni Erst and Chuck Grassley, and Rep. Steve King. Looking comfortable in worn jeans, the new secretary bragged about the value of American …
Set Sail on a Voyage of Better Seed
With the theme “Voyage of Better Seed,” the 2017 American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Annual Convention June 21-24 in Minneapolis will focus on science and policy issues related to the development and free movement of quality seed worldwide. ASTA president and CEO Andy LaVigne says a number of special sessions and tours are planned for the week, including an Opening …
Iowa is Next Stop for New Ag Secretary
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will travel to Nevada, Iowa tomorrow to tour Couser Cattle Company, give his first major farm policy speech, and host a farmer’s town hall meeting. Couser Cattle Co. is a diversified operation that annually feeds and finishes over 5,000 head of cattle and farms 5,000 acres, producing both corn seed and soybean seed. Bill …
Celebrating 60 years of NAMA
The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) is celebrating 60 years as the nation’s largest professional association for professionals in marketing and agribusiness so we decided to check in with a couple of the more “seasoned” professionals at the annual conference last week on how the organization has grown over the years. The first person we talked to was Gary Vorpahl with …
Bayer Supports Youth Ag-Summit in Brussels
The Crop Science division of Bayer is proud to support the third Youth Ag-Summit and the five young people from the United States who have been chosen to participate in the Brussels, Belgium event taking place October 9-13 this year. The young leaders are part of a delegation of 100 people from 49 countries selected to participate in a week-long …
Branstad Wants “Fair and Open” Chinese Market
The longest serving governor in the country will be drawing on his agricultural trade experience and 30 year friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China. During his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad was asked by Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE) what he will do to get more …
Grassland Oregon Offers Pastures for Pollinators
In response to the need to protect pollinators and support sustainable livestock farming, Grassland Oregon has introduced a new seed mixture called Pastures for Pollinators that will benefit bees, livestock and sustainable agriculture. Risa DeMasi, co-founder of Grassland Oregon and immediate past chairman of the American Seed Trade Association says proceeds from the sales of Pastures for Pollinators will be …
Deere and Monsanto End Precision Planting Deal
Under pressure from the Department of Justice, an agreement between Deere & Company and Monsanto to purchase Precision Planting LLC was terminated Monday. The department filed suit on Aug. 31, 2016, to block the acquisition, alleging that the transaction was a merger-to-monopoly in high-speed precision planting systems, an innovative technology that enables farmers to accurately plant corn, soybeans and other …
#SecretarySonny Moves to Make School Meals Great Again
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue started out his second week on the job by going back to school and eating lunch. Perdue visited Catoctin Elementary School in Leesburg, Virginia to announce that USDA will provide greater flexibility in nutrition requirements for school meal programs in order to make food choices both healthful and appealing to students, beginning the process of …
Passing of the NAMA Gavel
Just back off the agriblogging highway from the 2017 AgriMarketing Conference in Dallas Texas where we talked a lot about podcasting and agriculture’s virtual newsroom AgNewsWire. We also did a lot of Facebook Live video from NAMA this year – the first time Best of NAMA and Student NAMA finals have ever been broadcast live. The annual conference marks the …