The U.S. Senate has formally confirmed the nomination of George Ervin “Sonny” Perdue III to serve as the 31st Secretary of Agriculture. The final vote was 87 to 11. Agribusinessman, veterinarian, state legislator, and governor of Georgia, Perdue worked on the family farm in central Georgia andn will be only the fourth agriculture secretary who can claim to have been …
SMART Farmer Nancy Kavazanjian
This is episode number six of the USFRA SMART Farmer podcast and this one is with Nancy Kavazanjian, who served as the second chairperson of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. Nancy farms with her husband Charlie Hammer in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin on land that has been in his family for 150 years. She grew up on Long Island, made …
Ethanol and Earth Day
Ethanol has a seat on the ground at one of the largest Earth Day events in the country this weekend – Earth Day Texas, which last year hosted over 130,000 attendees, over 700 exhibitors and more than 250 speakers. Even bigger and better this year, the event includes the National Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Day Odyssey where Renewable Fuels Association …
Bayer Bee Center Celebrates 10K Visitors
The Bee Care Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina celebrated its third anniversary this week by welcoming its 10,000th visitor. The Bee Care Program invited a group of fourth-graders from a local school to serve as the honorary “10,000th visitors” and everyone had a great time while learning about the role honey bees play in the environment through a …
ASTA Pleased with New International Seed Standard
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is pleased with the passage of a final International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) for Seed during the recent International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) in Korea. American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) Senior Director of Seed Health and Trade Ric Dunkle, who attended the IPPC, says ASTA has been advocating for a seed ISPM for …
A Little Lesson on the Water Markets
Mammoth Trading’s President, Richael Young sat on a panel during the 2017 Water for Food Global Conference called, “Drought, Water Risk and the Context for Water Markets.” Drought risk management was positioned as a focal point as panelists discussed the water transaction outlook, water policy trends and the role of public versus private investment in water markets. Mammoth Trading develops …
Moving Africa from Rain-Fed to Irrigated Farming
Now founder and CEO of KickStart International, Martin Fisher, at first wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do with his life. A Fullbright scholarship took him to Africa for a year to look for the potential use of technology and engineering in development. That one year turned in to 17 years in Kenya. Martin presented his case study at …
Fluency Agent Advanced Helps Farmers CARE
The Bayer CARE initiative has been encouraging growers to be good stewards of the land for five years and now Bayer is making that goal more attainable with Fluency Agent Advanced, which was introduced by the company at Commodity Classic. The CARE acronym stands for: Communicate planting activities to neighboring beekeepers Be Aware of wind speed and direction during your …
Positive Innovation in a World of Sustainability
Elanco Animal Health’s seminar at the Central Plains Dairy Expo highlighted the role of innovation in the dairy industry. Dr. Roger Cady, Global Sustainability Lead, Scientific Affairs & Policy for Elanco talked about the positive impact of innovation on the I-29 Dairy Corridor which includes Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. “Producers along the I-29 Corridor are recognized as leaders …
Expanding Africa’s Access to Ag Technology
Another session at the 2017 Water for Food Global Conference was “Upscaling Solutions: Expanding access to irrigation for smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa.” This session explored how public and private sector investors can support smallholder-irrigated agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve greater yield gains and improve livelihoods. The presentation included a whitepaper synthesis of case studies relevant to this topic. One …