Environmental reporting was a big topic of discussion at the recent AgGateway annual meeting in Austin. The opening keynote session featured a panel discussion moderated by Executive Vice President Jeremy Wilson featuring three retail representatives working on the challenges and opportunities in data gathering for environmental reporting in sustainability and carbon programs. He was joined by Brian Henze from Growmark, …
Ag Secretary Nominee Ready to Make Ag Great Again
After a fake news rumor late Friday naming a former U.S. Senator from Georgia, President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated Texas native Brooke Rollins, president and chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute, to become the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. “As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are …
Senate Hearing on Disaster Relief Funding
The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the $100 billion request for disaster funding from the Biden Administration. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) kicked off the discussion by outlining some of the devastating losses experienced in Georgia by agricultural producers as a results of Hurricane Helene. “Hurricane-force winds and torrential rains destroyed fall crops still in the field, knocked …
Grassley Sounds Off on Senate Farm Bill Proposal
During his weekly call with farm reporters Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) gave his opinion on the last minute Farm Bill introduced Monday by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow. “The timing of this bill is disappointing and unrealistic,” said Grassley. “It’s a sad commentary that Senate Democrats kept farmers waiting two years before even releasing a bill text, while …
ZimmCast 738 – Reaction to Elections
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. In this episode I’m going to share some interviews from the NAFB Trade Talk about reactions from the recent presidential election. I’m going to include Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta Sr. Manager, Federal Government and Industry Relations; Brian Jennings, ACE CEO; Geoff Cooper, RFA CEO and Ethan Lane, NCBA, VP of Government Affairs. Adding to …
Last Minute Senate Farm Bill Introduced
On Monday, with only weeks before the end of this session of Congress, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) at last released the text of her nearly 1400 page farm bill the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act. According to Sen. Stabenow, the bill includes funding from the IRA. “This bill will roll the historic investment we made in …
NCBA Pleased with Election Results, Hopeful for Farm Bill
The 2024 election turned out well for the nation’s cattle producers, according to National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “Whether it be a president that we’ve worked with before, whether it be the defeat of radical animal rights action around the country, a tremendous election cycle, and I think now eyes turn to what can …
AgGateway Wraps Up Successful Annual Meeting
AgGateway wrapped up another successful annual meeting last week in Austin, Texas. “We’ve had increase in attendance, increase in registrations, increase in in sponsorship. It’s been just a solid year for the conference,” said AgGateway CEO Brent Kemp. “The conversations, the energy, the discussions and debates that we fostered here have all been super. We say bring your people and …
President-Elect Continues Naming Cabinet at Record Pace
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Colorado oil executive Chris Wright for Energy Secretary over the weekend, continuing an almost daily announcement of cabinet nominees since the election. “It is amazing to me how quickly Trump has named 10 or 11 people out of the top 25,” said veteran farm policy expert Mary Kay Thatcher with Syngenta during an interview at the …
Research Finds Brand New Mode of Nitrogen Action for Crops
New research published in Scientific Reports describes a breakthrough in nitrogen fertilizer technology seen as the first new mode of nitrogen action in crops to be discovered in a century. Conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue University and Pivot Bio, the study shows that gene-edited microbes can fix nitrogen from the air and feed it to cereal plants’ roots, …