Biofuels and agricultural groups are anxiously awaiting the outcome of a meeting today between President Trump and four Republicans senators over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Trump will be meeting with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), who want to see changes in the RFS to protect refiners, and Iowa Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst, who want …
CIRB Honors Mary Kay Thatcher
After over 30 years with American Farm Bureau Federation, the name Mary Kay Thatcher has become well known in the agriculture world. But as of January 31, Thatcher retired from AFBF and is now looking forward to her next challenge doing federal relations for Syngenta. Mary Kay has been a regular speaker at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) …
Reaction to President Trump’s SOTU
President Donald Trump made no direct mention of agriculture in his first State of the Union address, but he did address important issues for agriculture and rural America including infrastructure and immigration, trade and taxes. Trump called on Congress to “produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs,” …
New Coalition Advocates For NAFTA Preservation
More than 30 organizations have joined to form Americans for Farmers & Families (AFF), a coalition dedicated to preserving and modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by educating political leaders about its importance to agriculture. The groups represent growers, refiners, producers, transporters, retailers and consumers, including major industry organizations such as American Farm Bureau, Corn Refiners Association, National …
ZimmCast on January Ag Events
2018 has already started off with a bang at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention in Nashville with the first appearance by a U.S. president in over 25 years and some pretty exciting mainstream media news coverage of agriculture. Jamie was there to take it all in and she talks about the experience in this edition of the ZimmCast, …
Trump Puts Rural America in the Spotlight
President Trump’s address to the American Farm Bureau Federation 99th annual convention this week in Nashville definitely brought agriculture some positive publicity, mentioning the word farmers over 25 times in his speech, more than any of the previous three presidents in all of their official speeches combined. Granted, that is just a guess but I feel safe in saying that …
President Trump Addresses Record Farm Bureau Crowd
“Farm country is God’s country,” said President Donald J. Trump at the conclusion of his remarks to a record crowd at the American Farm Bureau Federation 99th annual convention in Nashville. “This is your 99th year, so I was very disappointed to hear that,” Trump said. “A hundred is so much cooler, I have to be honest. So I’ll be …
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue at #AFBF18
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue set the stage for his boss and our President Donald J. Trump to address the largest general farm organization in the country Monday. Perdue highlighted accomplishments of the Trump Administration related to agriculture and discussed the importance of trade and NAFTA in particular to U.S. agriculture. “To get a deal, we need all sides …
AFBF President Pleased to Host President Trump
The second day of the American Farm Bureau Federation convention is when the spotlight is usually on the big name keynote speaker, the secretary of agriculture, and the big award winners at the meeting. This year, YF&R, Reba McIntyre and even Secretary Sonny are being upstaged by President Donald Trump, the first time that a president has addressed the AFBF …
Farm Bureau Excels at Instant Convention Content
The communications team for the American Farm Bureau Federation is really getting a workout for the organization’s 99th annual meeting in Nashville this week with President Donald Trump attending Monday afternoon. Over 200 registered media and room for only 90, having last minute convention schedule changes, and just dealing with the logistics of a presidential presence will make Monday a …