Agricultural organizations are calling for the House to move the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act, but whether that happens before the current bill expires is in question. American Farm Bureau Federation Farm Policy Specialist Mary Kay Thatcher is doubtful a new farm bill will be finished by September 30. “Our best option is probably to have some …
FARRM Bill Passes out of Committee
They said they would get the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act out of committee in one business session come “hell or high water” and they did it. It took nearly 15 hours to go through some 100 amendments and did not end until just shy of 1:00 am Eastern time, but the final roll call vote to recommend …
Kansas Wins Race to Sell 15% Ethanol
Kansas wins the prize for the first state to sell 15% ethanol-blended gasoline (E15) under the Environmental Protection Agency waiver. The nation’s first E15 gallons were pumped at the Zarco 66 “Oasis” station in Lawrence, Kansas on Tuesday and, not coincidentally, the first customer to buy it was Jere White, Executive Director of the Kansas Corn Commission. “We were there …
Weather Taking Toll on Crops
This is what the corn looked like near Bloomington, Illinois yesterday – and it looks much worse in other areas. The USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report out this morning did, as expected, lower corn yields as a result of the hot and dry conditions throughout much of the growing region this summer. “Dreadful,” said USDA Outlook Board …
Ag Interests Dissect House Farm Bill Draft
Despite the fact that the legislation impacts every single American, it’s still hard not to call it the “Farm Bill,” so the draft out of the House Agriculture Committee comes with a clever acronym to let us go ahead and call it that officially. The discussion draft released yesterday by Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson …
Rural Benefits to Defense Biofuels Investments
The Obama administration today announced new investments in the biofuels industry as part of the Defense Production Act (DPA). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Navy and Department of Energy jointly announced $30 million in federal funding to match private investments in commercial-scale advanced drop-in biofuels. The Energy Department is also announcing a total of $32 million in new investments …
Dr. Fred Below is Quotable on BASF Panel
Dr. Fred Below, Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was one of many experts on a panel at the recent BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit but he had some of the best quotes that were most tweeted from the event. One of his more quotable comments was that because university extension budgets are being “cut …
Late Swine Nutrition Expert Honored at Pork Expo
A University of Illinois professor who spent his lifetime contributing to the livestock nutrition industry was honored at World Pork Expo earlier this month. JBS United recognized the contributions of Dr. David H. Baker as this year’s John B. Swisher Leadership Award Winner. Dr. Baker’s family accepted the post humus award in his honor on June 5 at the Expo …
They’re Farming and They Grow it
Yet another parody of the parody “I’m Sexy and I Know it” – “I’m Farming and I Grow it” by the Peterson Farm Bros in Kansas.
GROWMARK Celebrating 85 Years
GROWMARK has two reasons to celebrate this year – the International Year of the Cooperative and GROWMARK’s 85th anniversary. “The cooperative obviously has evolved a lot over those 85 years,” says Dan Kelley, Illinois farmer and president of the GROWMARK Board of Directors. “Energy is still a main part of GROWMARK’s product distribution. Nearly half of our sales continue to …