*UPDATED* with audio below Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a one week extension for producers to choose between Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), the safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The final day to make the decision, update yield history or reallocate base acres will now be April 7, 2015. “This is an …
Propane Grain Dryers Increase Efficiency
Farmers at Commodity Classic were showing increased interest in upgrading their grain dryers to high efficiency propane units. Cinch Munson with the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) says their research shows that a new propane grain dryer can result in 50% efficiency savings. “PERC has worked with a number of grain dryers manufacturers over the past few years to …
State Farmers Union Presidents Meet Pope
Five Farmers Union state presidents and National Farmers Union’s (NFU) chief counsel capped off a series of meetings with officials at the Vatican by meeting Pope Francis himself on Wednesday. The presidents of state Farmers Unions in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin have been engaging in discussions about family farmers, food security and environmental stewardship. “In discussions …
Meet Bethany – Farm Mom of the Year
The Farm Mom of the Year is an award presented by America’s Farmers for those mom’s out there who don’t ask for recognition for everything they do. It’s a simple opportunity to thank them. Bethany Pugh, Monsanto Farm Mom of the Year, hails from North Carolina and is the heart of Middle Creek Farms and Pamlico Shores Produce. Ken Rahjes, …
Ag Day 2015
National Ag Day activities are conducted by the Agriculture Council of America. This year’s Chair is Colin Woodall, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. In this week’s program I talked with Colin about the work of the ACA and this year’s activities. I also spoke with Amy Bradford, GROWMARK, an Ag Day sponsor and sponsor of my coverage of Ag Day activities …
Yeutter Kicks Off UNL Trade Center Fundraiser
Former agriculture secretary and trade ambassador Clayton Yeutter was honored at the Agri-Pulse Ag Day event last week in Washington DC, the day after he made a $2.5 million dollar commitment to establish an international trade and finance institute at his alma mater, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). “We want to endow some chairs in agriculture, business and law,” said …
Food Tank at Bayer Ag Issues Forum
Food and social justice go hand-in-hand, and producers need to find more ways to bring balance to what is produced and how people on the producing side and the consumption side are treated. Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, an organization founded two years ago to highlight the role of food in social justice, spoke with Chuck at the Bayer …
Reaching Out to Millennials Starts Locally
Millennials have a lot of questions and concerns about agriculture, and it’s up to their age counterparts to help explain what modern farming is all about. One of the great “ag-vocates” for today’s farmers has been the Peterson brothers, whose YouTube video parodies of pop songs have reached millions in a fun way. Greg Peterson, who sat on the Millennial …
Undersecretary Michael Scuse Addresses Ag Day
The annual Celebration of Agriculture dinner at the USDA was an opportunity for many agricultural leaders and students to gather and hear about the work being done by the agency. Our keynote speaker, Michael Scuse, Undersecretary for Farm & Foreign Ag Services used the opportunity to highlight many of the accomplishments and programs of USDA The program also featured some …
Listen to Ag Day Essay Contest Winner
The winner of the 2015 Ag Day Essay Contest is Theresa Seibel. During last night’s Celebration of Agriculture Dinner we heard her read that essay which focused on this year’s theme, Agriculture: Sustaining Future Generations. Theresa is pictured with Annette Degnan, marketing communications director, CHS Inc., one of this year’s essay contest sponsors. The theme presented an opportunity for students …