The American Farm Bureau Foundation is bringing their Peas to the Table Contest back for a second year. The national competition will run from February 20- May 15. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade will plant, raise and harvest peas, competing for the highest yield. The winning school will receive a visit from Miss America 2017. The contest was created …
Benefits of Membership in @CIRBdc
For over 50 years, the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) has provided advocacy and support services for the industry and membership has never been more important. American Farm Bureau Insurance Services Vice President and General Manager Tim Green says CIRB is focused on maintaining the risk management tools that farmers and ranchers need. “We all have the same end …
#CIRB2017 Gets Legislative Update
Lower farm income may not seem like a good thing for farmers right now, but it might make getting a good farm bill a little easier than it was last time, according to American Farm Bureau’s Mary Kay Thatcher who gave members of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau a legislative update at their annual meeting this week. “Certainly farmers …
Ag Reacts to Trump Withdrawal from TPP
The detailed description touting the benefits of the Trans Pacific Partnership is now gone from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) website as President Trump signed an executive order today withdrawing from the trade deal. “With this decision, it is critical that the new administration begin work immediately to do all it can to develop new markets for U.S. agricultural goods …
Trump Ag Secretary Pick Comes at Last Minute
President-elect Donald Trump will officially round out his cabinet by nominating former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture just a little more than 24 hours before the inauguration. As word about the choice spread Wednesday evening, most agricultural groups were waiting until the official announcement to respond, but one of the first was American Farm Bureau president Zippy …
#AFBF17 Looks at Immigration Reform
A panel recently addressed the issue of immigration reform at the American Farm Bureau Federation‘s 2017 Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show. Tom Hertz, an economist from the Department of Agriculture and Mark Delich, director of congressional affairs at FWD spoke to the attendees about the economic and political realities of the issue, as well as some proposed reforms. Hertz …
USFRA at #AFBF17
One of the new exhibitors at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) 2017 Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show in Phoenix this week was the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), a group that AFBF was instrumental in creating five years ago. USFRA Senior Manager for Affiliate Relations and Ag Communications Paul Spooner chatted with Farm Bureau members at the …
NASDA and @FarmBureau Presidents Town Hall
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall held a town hall meeting with National Association of State Departments of Agriculture President and Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain this week at the 2017 Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show to discuss issues critical to American agriculture, including who the next agriculture secretary might be. “The only thing I can tell you …
U.S. & Cuba Trade Workshop at #AFBF17
Cuba has become a near and dear topic for me since visiting the country a few months ago with fellow ag media. The people of Cuba are eager to normalize relations with their big neighbor to the North opening trade and opportunities for U.S. agriculture. During the 2017 American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show experts gathered …
Farm Bill Talk at #AFBF17
There was a lot of interest in the development of the next farm bill at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting this week in Phoenix. A session on the topic featuring a couple of top agriculture committee staffers was standing room only. AFBF Senior Director of Congressional Relations Mary Kay Thatcher, who moderated the session, says Congress has a …