As Cindy already noted, it took nearly 15 hours, but members of the House Agriculture Committee were able to pass their version of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM) Bill. Committee Chair Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) praised the bipartisan legislation: “This is a balanced, reform-minded, fiscally responsible bill that underscores …
House Committee Considers Farm Bill Amendments
Last month, we told you about how the U.S. Senate had trimmed the number of amendments in the Senate Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, better known as the Farm Bill, from 300 down to 73. Today, the debate moved to the House, as the House Agriculture Committee was adding and subtracting the lower chamber’s own amendments (about …
BASF Looks to Tackle Sustainability, Quality Issues
When it comes to feeding a growing population, quality is just as important as quantity. Since farmers need to be producing more food, while at the same time being responsive to the quality needs of their customers, the recent BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit in Chicago featured a panel with representatives from Purdue AgriBusiness, Murphy-Brown and JBS United to talk …
Livestock Reports Not Sexy, Hard to Understand, and At Risk
For anyone who has ever done livestock market reports in the media, you know how complex and how intertwined they are. What happens in one market can greatly affect all of the others (including what goes on in the grain markets), and understanding these relationships is certainly not an easy task (doing markets for Chuck back during our days at …
Private Companies Also Worried About USDA Cuts
Previously, we talked about how USDA officials are concerned about how possible budget cuts will affect their ability to keep providing the timely, accurate reports on which so many farmers depend. And they’re not the only ones concerned. In our continuing series looking at the recent Farm Foundation webinar on data collection, we hear from Paul Hughes of Nestle Purina …
USDA: Environment Not Conducive to Public Info
At a time when farmers rely more and more on good information, officials at the USDA worry that budget cuts are going to make their job of providing information to those farmers more difficult. “We were being stressed right now in an environment not conducive to public information,” said Joe Prusacki, Director, Statistics Division, at the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics …
Data Collection Focus of Farm Foundation Webinar
Having good information is critical to agricultural operations, but increasing budget concerns are limiting the U.S. government’s ability to provide the information farmers want and need. Our friends at the Farm Foundation recently held a webinar organized by the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE), in partnership with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), and …
Farm Groups React to Obamacare Ruling
In a split 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to uphold the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Two major farm groups were also split in their evaluation of the decision, with the American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union both issuing statements yesterday. Here’s what Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation had to say: “Farmers, …
USDA Teams Up with GE for Renewable Energy
General Electric Aviation plans to buy $5 million worth of biofuels for its jets beginning in 2015, thanks to a partnership with the USDA. The two are collaborating with the Ohio Aerospace Institute, air carriers and producer groups to develop a Midwest-regional strategy to provide renewable-jet fuel at GE Aviation’s Cincinnati-area facilities. This USDA press release features Agriculture Secretary Tom …
Farm Foundation Free Webinar on Data Collection
Knowledge is power, and having good data to have good knowledge (and thus, good power) is key to having an efficient operation, no matter if it’s farming or any other business. That’s why our friends at Farm Foundation will be holding a free one-hour webinar this Friday at 2 p.m. EDT on how the ag industry needs to respond to …