Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack chose the John Deere Des Moines Works facility to talk about his priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill, which he says is really a misnomer. “After all, for decades this bill has been about a whole lot more than just farming. It’s been about energy, it’s been about nutrition, it’s been about jobs. Now, some may …
GROWMARK Among Top Ten Co-ops
Once again this year, the GROWMARK cooperative system is among the nation’s top ten co-ops. The GROWMARK System of cooperatives, headquartered in Bloomington, Ill., was ranked seventh on the NCB Co-op 100 listing of the nation’s 100 highest revenue-earning cooperative businesses. GROWMARK was ranked sixth on the 2010 list. “The boom of cooperative organizations and the key role they play …
GROWMARK Offers Grain Bin Safety Tips
Every year there are dozens of grain bin accidents reported across the Corn Belt, with far too many ending in fatalities. GROWMARK grain systems operations manager Randy Holthaus says the harvest season is an especially dangerous time on the farm around grain bins. “During the harvest, with the need to get it in and get it done, people get in …
Novus Launches New Sustainability Website
Novus International has launched a new interactive sustainability website to promote the company’s global sustainability initiatives. The website includes the 2010 Novus Sustainability Report which documents and measures the company’s comprehensive social, environmental and economic sustainability program at a global level following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, the most widely used guidelines for sustainability reporting standards. “This website outlines …
USDA-NASS Proposes Program Changes
It would be nice to see all government agencies take a look at some programs that might be able to be cut to save tax dollars, like USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service has done. In light of funding reductions in fiscal year (FY) 2011 and the likelihood of additional reductions in FY 2012, NASS conducted deliberate reviews of all programs …
Vilsack to Address 2012 Commodity Classic
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is confirmed to once again be the keynote speaker for an expected crowd of more than 4,800 corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum producers and guests during the 2012 Commodity Classic, March 1-3 in Nashville, Tenn. “The secretary’s return for a third straight visit is testament to the value of our grower constituency in Washington,” National …
The NAFB Store is Open
NAFB ladies – have you always wanted a sweet black t-shirt or a zippered tote with NAFB in rhinestones? Guys – how about a nice cap, t-shirt, wind shirt, polo or bomber jacket with the NAFB logo? Yeah, you know you want it! Have you found yourself far from home without an NAFB lapel pin or made frantic inquires of …
October is National Cooperative Month
Each October since 1964, cooperatives across the United States have been celebrating the cooperative difference, business model and the contributions of cooperatives to their communities, during National Cooperative Month. One of the best examples of an agricultural cooperative that makes a difference is GROWMARK, based in Bloomington, Illinois, and chairman of the board Dan Kelley says cooperatives touch our lives …
Farm Bureau Says FCC Must Test Technical Fixes for GPS
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and an independent technical company must complete comprehensive and rigorous testing on all proposed technical fixes to ensure there is no interference between broadband and GPS signals that could be created by a broadband network being developed by LightSquared. “It is critical that costs for resolving this issue …
Many Attend 25th Georgia Peanut Tour
The 25th Georgia Peanut Tour this year hosted participants from 12 states and international attendees from Belgium, Canada and Argentina. The event, held at the end of September in the Southwest area of Georgia, allowed many first time attendees to actually walk through a peanut field and see peanuts plowed up with a digger at harvest. The tour included stops …