Iowa Governor Terry Branstad declared a state of emergency Friday as new confirmed and probable cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been announced on an almost daily basis in the last two weeks. Yet another four probable cases were announced Monday, bringing the total now to over 20 million birds at 25 sites in 11 counties. Iowa is …
Netflix to Stream FARMLAND
The movie FARMLAND is now available for streaming to 57 million subscribers worldwide on Netflix.com. “I’m thrilled that FARMLAND has found a new home at Netflix,” said Academy Award®-winning director James Moll. “There’s a lot of interest out there in the next generation of farmers and ranchers, and Netflix is a great venue to meet and be inspired by these …
BASF Starts 150th Year With Higher Sales
BASF’s 150th anniversary year is off to a great start, due in a large part to the chemical company’s innovative crop protection business. Compared with the first quarter of 2014, sales grew by 3% to €20.1 billion ($22.5 billion USD) in the first quarter of this year. Sales in the Agricultural Solutions segment rose by 15% to €1.9 billion ($2.1 …
Support for Food Labeling Act
Hundreds of organizations representing various sectors of the food and agriculture industry signed on to a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives this week asking them to support the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. The groups representing the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food urged members of Congress to consider co-sponsoring the bill introduced last month by …
Senators Call for Revised WOTUS
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators today introduced a bill that would repeal EPA’s “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) proposal. The senators, including John Barrasso (R-WY), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), jointly introduced the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, directing EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers …
Mixed Signals on Biotech from EU
Mixed signals regarding biotech crops coming from the European Union last week have left representatives of the agriculture community shaking their heads. First the EU announced it would allow member nations to ban the import of food and feed containing biotech ingredients, and then a few days later announced the approval of 17 biotech traits for import. “I’m just characterizing …
First Doan Award Presented
The very first Doan award honoring Excellence in Reporting Agriculture was presented at Washington Watch this week to Michelle Rook, managing farm director at WNAX in Yankton, SD. The Doan is named after Stewart Doan, a farm broadcaster and senior editor at Agri-Pulse, who passed away suddenly in May 2012. He was known for his passion for politics and determination …
GROWMARK Crop Update
Another 10% of the nation’s corn crop was planted last week, bringing the total now a couple of points ahead of last year but still behind the five year average. According to the latest progress report from USDA, farmers now have 19% of the corn crop in the ground and two percent has emerged, most of it in non-Corn Belt …
NCGA Staff Changes
The National Corn Growers Association has made some staff changes designed to emphasize market development and sustainability. For one, NCGA will begin an immediate search for a Vice President of Market Development, who will be responsible for managing marketing initiatives to build demand for ethanol, livestock feed, biobased products and food uses of corn. In addition, NCGA announced that Fred …
USDA Presents Climate Change Initiative
In a speech Thursday at Michigan State University, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack introduced “Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture & Forestry”, an initiative that will utilize voluntary, incentive-based conservation, forestry, and energy programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration and expand renewable energy production in the agricultural and forestry sectors. “American farmers and ranchers are leaders when it …