President Obama held a public signing ceremony for the tax bill passed by Congress this week that delivers early Christmas presents for everyone, giving farmers and ranchers good reason to be thankful this holiday season. Securing meaningful estate tax reform for farm and ranch families has been a top priority for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We commend President Obama …
Early Christmas on Capitol Hill
Christmas came more than a week early this year, as the House voted just before midnight Thursday to pass the tax package that includes presents for everyone. The final vote was 277-148 on the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4853) which is expected to be signed into law immediately by President Obama. The bill includes another year …
Senate Passes Tax Package With Death Tax Relief
By a vote of 81 to 19, the Senate has passed the $858 billion tax compromise worked out between President Obama and Senate Republicans that includes a key provision keeping the estate tax at levels acceptable to agricultural interests. The measure reduces the top rate of the estate tax, more appropriately known as the “death tax,” to 35 percent, increases …
BRANDT to Sponsor NASCAR Driver
An Illinois-based crop technology company is getting on track with NASCAR. BRANDT is pleased to announce a partnership with Turner Motorsports and will serve as primary sponsor of the No. 31 Chevrolet Impala, driven by NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) championship contender, Justin Allgaier during the 2011 racing season. Allgaier, who finished the 2010 season fourth in the NNS championship points …
BASF News From ASTA Expo
At the same time Chuck was in Savannah covering the National Agricultural Aviation Association meeting on behalf of BASF Crop Protection last week, the company was making news at the 40th annual American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) 2010 Seed Expo in Chicago. In several updates provided to seed partners, BASF announced a label expansion for Stamina® F3 HL. The fungicide …
Change is Necessary to Fight PRRS
Since Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) has been a problem in the U.S. hog industry for more than 20 years and is costing producers nearly $600 million per year, Boehringer Ingelheim (BIVI) is working with the industry to find and implement changes that will help control and even eliminate it. Dr. Dale Polson, a member of the BIVI Area …
Microsoft Cloud for USDA
The future forecast for USDA is cloudy. USDA announced last week that it is on the verge of going live with a commercial cloud service offering for its Enterprise Messaging Service (EMS) which includes email, web conferencing, document collaboration, and instant messaging. USDA is the first cabinet-level agency to move its e-mail and collaboration applications to the “cloud,” a rapidly …
New House Ag Committee Chair on GIPSA
The incoming Republican chairman of the House Agriculture Committee is very unhappy with the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule that he says will likely result in a “tremendously devastating” impact on the livestock sector. During the special live 200th episode of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen program last week, Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK) …
PRRS Area Regional Control Updates
The number of PRRS Area Regional Control and Elimination (ARC&E) projects continues to grow in hog producing areas of North America. “It actually grows like every month,” says Dr. Laura Batista, a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim (BIVI) PRRS Area Solutions Team, who organized the recent ARC&E workshop and update in Chicago. “Last year I think we were supporting five …
Andy Vance Joins Feedstuffs
Andy Vance, formally with ABN Radio, has officially announced his new gig will be with Feedstuffs. “I’m very excited to announce that I’m joining Feedstuffs and Feedstuffs Foodlink as a featured contributor, writing for Feedstuffs’ weekly print and online editions, and providing exclusive online audio and video content,” Andy says on his blog “The Angle.” According to Feedstuffs, Andy starts …