The American Farm Bureau Federation is inviting farmer and a ranchers to advocate for agriculture with the newly launched #iAdvocate campaign. To participate, message a picture of yourself holding a white board or sign with the hashtag to the Farm Bureau Promotion & Education Facebook page, along with a brief description of what you’re doing. The ten winning submissions will …
AgriAbility Marks 25 Years
2016 marks 25 of service to people with disabilities for AgrAbility. The organization, first authorized in the 1990 farm bill and funded in 1991, helps people in agriculture overcome their various needs and work productively in the industry. It has grown from eight state projects to 20 this year, as well as six previously funded affiliate projects. Each project is …
Alltech Continues Support for Ag Journalism
The IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Award has been able to reach young journalists across the globe, and this international impact will be extended in 2016, thanks to changes in the federation’s constitution and renewed support from key sponsor Alltech. The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) accepted eight new guilds for membership at its annual congress in New …
Sustainability Expert Defends Big Business
Terms like local, organic, natural and sustainable dominate the marketplace, but what does it all mean? One of the most tangible examples of sustainability is the use of drastically fewer resources over time, something many areas of agriculture, especially the dairy industry, can say is true of their production methods. Regardless of this fact, many large-scale production operations face a …
Policy Priorities for Ag Retailers
The Agricultural Retailers Association is holding its winter board meeting in Washington, DC after a day of visits on Capitol Hill. Before the meeting started I visited with ARA Chairman, Harold Cooper, Premier Ag. We talked about the policy priorities for ARA this year. The first and foremost one he says is the retail exemption to OSHA’s Process Safety Management …
NCGA Dialogues on Behalf of Members
To better serve their members the National Corn Growers Association gathers their state affiliate staff and select grower volunteers every two years to discuss challenges and opportunities for the organization. Staff and growers from Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin gathered in Santa Fe for presentations and discussions. The …
Record-Setting Attendance at IPPE
The 2016 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) saw an estimated 30,000 poultry, meat and feed industry leader attendees from all over the world. The show also hosted a record-setting 1,301 exhibitors in more than 464,750 net square feet of exhibit space. IPPE is the world’s largest annual poultry, meat and feed industry event of its kind, and is sponsored …
Ag Retailers Storm the Hill
It’s a beautiful sunny day in Washington, DC. Perfect timing for members of the board of the Agricultural Retailers Association to take their priorities to Senate and House offices. All day these members will be visiting with their elected leaders to distribute information and talk with the Representative, Senator and/or their aides. They have been briefed. They are on a …
Ag Retailers Hold Winter Board Meeting
The agriblogger is on the highway again this week, moving to Washington, DC for a few days to work with the Agricultural Retailers Association at their Winter Board Meeting. ARA planned this right since the snow was a week ago and has been pretty well cleared up on the streets. I talked with Daren Coppock, President/CEO, ARA, to have him …
Key Issues Top Farm Bureau’s 2016 Strategic Plan
Farm Bureau’s strategic action plan for 2016 includes several key issues for agriculture, including the government’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) action, protecting farmers’ rights to use biotechnology and trade issue. This news release from the group says the policy issues are a result of deliberations by delegates to the AFBF’s 97th Annual Convention in Orlando. “We will continue …