Agricultural organizations are pleased with the election of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to succeed Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman says they look forward to working with the new speaker. “Speaker Ryan has been a faithful friend of farmers and ranchers in his time in Congress,” said …
Agricultural Champions of Change Honored
Twelve individuals from across the country involved in the agriculture industry were honored Monday in Washington DC as “White House Champions of Change for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Agriculture.” The diverse group of farmers, ranchers, researchers and educators were recognized for their exemplary leadership in supporting change in their communities through innovation in agricultural production and education. The Champions were chosen …
AgCatalyst Award Winners
While we were busy with koalas and kangaroos last week in Australia, the first AgCatalyst Awards were being handed out in Kansas City. One of the inaugural honorees was our very dear friend Al Johnson, who started his career more than four decades ago with a traditional print magazine, Dakota Farmer, and continues to innovate and lead the ag media …
New Zealand’s Trade Minister at #IFAJ2015
One of the hard news highlights of the 2015 IFAJ Congress was hearing from the man who was responsible for holding up the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement to get New Zealand’s dairy industry more access to other markets. “The fundamental reason why New Zealand agriculture is so strong is we don’t have a choice, it’s export or die for us,” …
New Zealand’s Minister of Primary Industries
The Honorable Nathan Guy, Minister of Primary Industries for New Zealand, is basically the counterpart of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in this country and he was delighted to welcome the 2015 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Congress to “little old New Zealand.” “This is a significant event for New Zealand,” said Guy of the 33 countries represented at the …
Greetings from IFAJ in New Zealand
We have seen the future and it is in New Zealand – 18 hours ahead of central time in the United States! The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) 2015 Congress is being held in Hamilton, New Zealand where we are learning a lot about this small, two island, South Pacific nation that is home to 30 million sheep, seven …
Appeals Court Suspends WOTUS Implementation
A new ruling issued today by a federal appeals court places a nationwide stay on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Rule, better known as Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS). The court agreed with petitioners that the treatment in the rule of tributaries, “adjacent waters,” and waters having a “significant nexus” to navigable waters is at odds with a previous …
Ag Co-ops Set New Income Records
October is National Cooperative Month and USDA traditionally releases its annual report on cooperatives to coincide with the observance. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the nation’s farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives posted record income and revenue in 2014, previewing a USDA report to be released later this month that shows cooperatives earned $6.5 billion in net income and …
Brownfield’s Steever Interviews President Obama
Brownfield Ag News anchor and former NAFB president Tom Steever got a 20 minute interview with President Obama this week on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal and what it means for agriculture. “So this is really a big deal,” the President told Brownfield Ag News Tuesday, “and the key to getting it passed is just making sure that people …
Push for TPP Approval is On
President Obama met with agriculture and business leaders on Tuesday as the push to get Congress to approve the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) begins. “History of free trade agreements with reference to agriculture will tell us that agriculture is a winner every time,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a press conference about the agreement. “TPP is going to be …