Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) calls it not the best possible bill, but “the best bill possible” – the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012 passed the Senate this afternoon by a vote of 64 to 35. Both Roberts and Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) stressed the bi-partisan cooperation involved in getting the bill crafted and passed. …
ASTA Members Hear from House Ag Leaders
Members of the American Seed Trade Association were on Capitol Hill today getting updates on farm legislation from Congressional leaders, including House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN). Chuck was there with them today during a busy day for progress on the 2012 Farm Bill, with the Senate whipping through amendments at lightning speed. …
Senate Cuts Farm Bill Amendments
The number of proposed amendments to the Senate farm bill shrank from nearly 300 to 73 yesterday as senators struck a deal to get debate back on track. “This is not a great agreement, but it’s a good agreement,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announcing the deal late last night. The good news is that the “rotten egg …
Record-Setting World Pork Expo
The 2012 World Pork Expo was another one for the record books. The Expo set records for the number of pigs in the Junior National show and the quantity of meals served at the Big Grill, and featured the creation of the world’s largest pork burger during its well-attended MusicFest. The WPX Junior National broke another record for the number …
New Holland “Race With the Winners” and Win
If you love NASCAR and are in the market for a new compact tractor or utility vehicle, New Holland has just the ticket. New Holland Agriculture has partnered with several of the race tracks hosting NASCAR events in 2012 to create the “Race with the Winners” program. Five finalists will be selected during pre-race activities for a chance to win …
Egg Amendment is Top Priority for NCBA
As the amendments to the 2012 Farm Bill are piling up in the Senate, one of the more than 240 stands out as causing the most concern to many agricultural organizations, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), and that is the rotten egg amendment. A “dangerous piece of legislation” is what NCBA calls amendment #2252, put forward by Senator …
BASF Stresses Doing More With Less
Sustainability is an overused term, according to Nevin McDougall, Senior VP for BASF Crop Protection, North America. “Getting more productivity, more efficiency, with less impact on our resources and our environment – that’s what it’s all about,” Nevin told me at the conclusion of the 2012 BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit in Chicago last week. Nevin was very pleased with …
Help Feed the World with GROWMARK Cookbook
GROWMARK employees have created a cookbook to help a group focused on feeding the world. In celebration of the International Year of Cooperatives, GROWMARK has announced that proceeds from sales of a new cookbook will go to Farmers Feeding the World, an industry-wide campaign to rally North American agriculture in the war against hunger. GROWMARK System employees and friends submitted …
Few Ag Names on Dot Domain List
There’s no dots for agriculture, corn, or cows on the list of nearly 2000 new generic top-level domain (or gTLD) name applications announced yesterday by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). There’s .beer but not .beef, there’s .porn but not .pork, there’s .soy but not .soybean. There is .farm on the list, by one of several companies …
Pork Industry Concerned about Egg Bill
Pork producers are concerned that a bill regulating egg production could make it into the farm bill, which could impact more than just the poultry industry. “Some people have asked us why is the pork industry concerned about an egg bill,” said National Pork Producers Council director Bill Luckey of Nebraska during a press conference at World Pork Expo last …