Thanksgiving dinner this year will cost more, but it’s still a bargain no matter how you slice it. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the retail cost of menu items for a classic Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the basic trimmings increased about 13 percent this year. That may seem like a lot, …
Super Committee Heading for Super Failure?
With a deadline looming for the so-called “super committee” to make super cuts in the federal budget, all signs are pointing to a super failure. The committee was charged with making cuts that ideally would mean a new Farm Bill and that was a major topic of discussion with farm group representatives at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting …
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 …
AFBF Elects Potts as Executive Vice President
Julie Anna Potts is the new executive vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The AFBF board of directors elected Potts last week to succeeds Dick Newpher who retired after 19 years of service with AFBF, the last seven as executive vice president. Newpher previously worked 19 years with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau in various capacities. In her new …
Trade Agreements Finally Moving for Real
After more than four years in limbo, trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama have finally been sent to Congress by the White House and could be voted on by next week. “The series of trade agreements I am submitting to Congress today will make it easier for American companies to sell their products in South Korea, Colombia, and …
Farm Bill Forecasting at Peanut Meeting
Prospects for a new Farm Bill dominated a discussion at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference in Panama City over the weekend. Congressman Stephen Fincher (R-TN) of the freshman class in the House of Representatives for 2010 would like to see the next Farm Bill delayed until after the 2012 election. “We’ve got to make sure as we approach writing a …
Interactive Website for American Century Farms
Celebrating our nation’s rich agricultural heritage and educating others about it are the goals of a new interactive website launched by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture with the sponsorship of Bayer CropScience. Appropriately named “Agriculture’s Lasting Heritage,” this website tells the story of American farm and ranch families who have shaped the history of our nation. “Agriculture’s Lasting …
GIPSA Heating Up
It’s been almost exactly a year since USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) published a controversial proposed rule that would fundamentally change the way livestock is marketed in this country, and those opposed to it remain hopeful that the proposal itself will be fundamentally changed – or just eliminated. Colin Woodall with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) …
Ag Groups Call For Trade Agreement Approval
Since May is both World Trade Month and National Beef Month, it was appropriate for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) to host a news conference on Capitol Hill today urging the Obama administration to send pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to Congress immediately. NCBA was joined by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), American …
Farm Bureau Estimates Flooded Farm Acres at Over 3.5 Million
The American Farm Bureau Federation is estimating that nearly 3.6 million acres of farmland in the southern United States have been impacted by flooding, including about 40 percent of the rice crop. AFBF received flood damage estimates from individual state Farm Bureaus in the affected areas. Arkansas topped the list with a million acres affected, including 300,000 acres of rice …