Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited World Pork Expo in his home state of Iowa Thursday to announce federal actions to help combat porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV). For one, Vilsack says there is now a Federal Order requiring the reporting of new detections of these viruses to its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) or …
Pork Urges Trade Deal Without Japan
Pending trade deals, particularly the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), will be among the topics on the plate – along with lots of barbequed pork! – at the World Pork Expo this week. Just last week, the National Pork Producers Council joined with dairy, wheat and rice organizations in calling on the Obama administration to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations …
NCGA President Kicks off CUTC
The 2014 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference is underway today in Louisville, Kentucky and last night National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) president Martin Barbre welcomed attendees to the semi-annual event that this year focuses on wet and dry milling technologies and new uses. Barbre says the event brings together researchers with the common goal of facilitating the next ground-breaking technologies …
Heading to the Center of the Pork Universe
We are heading to the Center of the Pork Universe this week to join some 20,000 pork producers and industry professionals from 32 countries for the 2014 World Pork Expo. “World Pork Expo is a showcase of pork production,” says National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president Howard Hill. “It offers a great opportunity for pork producers to get a crash …
NCGA Fields-of-Corn Photo Contest
If you shoot it, they will vote – in the new National Corn Growers Association Fields-of-Corn Photo Contest. NCGA is calling all photographers to help tell the story of farming field corn in America with this brand new photo contest. Submit your favorite high-resolution photos of corn growth from seed to harvest and the families that grow it and you …
“New Era in Conservation” Launch
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) this week launched “a new era in American conservation efforts with an historic focus on public-private partnership.” Vilsack and Stabenow announced the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Tuesday during a visit to the Saginaw Bay watershed of the Great Lakes agricultural region. “This is an entirely new approach …
Oregon GMO Bans Hurt All Farmers
Last week, two Oregon counties voted overwhelmingly to ban the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. The initiatives in Josephine County and Jackson County, which border California, passed by as much as a two to one margin. “This isn’t Monsanto or Syngenta, these are local farms that have been farming the way they have chosen here in the valley for …
School Lunch Food Fight
A school lunch food fight is underway between House Republicans and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee FY 2015 bill approved this week would establish a waiver program for schools having trouble with provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Subcommittee chairman Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) says the program is resulting in rising costs for schools …
USDA Chinese Trade Mission
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse led a mission to promote U.S. biofuels and agricultural product exports in northeast China May 5-13. The mission was part of President Obama’s “Made in Rural America” export and investment initiative, designed to help rural businesses and leaders take advantage of new investment opportunities and …
FS Sales Lens Offers New Views
A great benefit of new communications technology is how it provides farmers the opportunity to access information nearly anyplace or time right in the palm of their hand. GROWMARK is utilizing the immediacy of tablets and smartphones for crop specialists to provide farmers with visual information on the spot with FS Sales Lens. “It’s really designed for them to understand …