During the 2015 annual meeting for the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau, a panel was formed to talked about the impact of big data on crop insurance. One of those panelist was Deb Casurella with MyAgData and Chuck caught up with her as she shared her insights into this rapidly evolving industry. “We take data from the tractor and tie …
Risk Management Agency Update from CIRB
Brandon Willis, Administrator of Risk Management Agency (RMA) for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), provided an RMA update for those at the recent annual meeting for the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB). Brandon shared insights for activity in the coming year and discussed the long-term outlook for crop insurance. Prior to joining USDA in 2009, he served …
USFRA Visits with Cattle Producers
The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) had a booth at the 2015 Cattle Industry Convention’s big trade show in San Antonio last week where CEO Randy Krotz was able to meet with producers and tell them about what the alliance has been doing to help increase communications with consumers. “The Beef Checkoff is a major funder of USFRA,” said …
CIRB Hears of Challenging Year for Ag
American Farm Bureau Senior Director for Congressional Relations Mary Kay Thatcher told members of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau this week that she expects 2015 to be “a challenging year for agriculture.” “There seems to be a lot of emphasis on Capitol Hill about wanting to make budget cuts,” she explained. “We only have a couple of months before …
Proposed Crop Insurance Cuts Concern Ag Groups
A coalition of more than 30 agricultural, banking and insurance organizations are concerned about the President’s proposed budget cuts to some elements of crop insurance. The group sent a letter to Congressional leaders this week to highlight the importance of crop insurance and how it can save consumers money and help farmers recover from weather disasters. The American Soybean Association …
Past and Future CIRB Leadership
The gavel has been passed at the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau. Greg Mills, is now the outgoing Chair while Sheri Bane is the new Chair for CIRB. Greg was presented with several thank you gifts during the annual meeting. I asked Greg to tell me what he and CIRB accomplished during his term. He says that one of those …
Happy Birthday Farm Bill!
It was one year ago this week – February 7, to be exact – that President Obama signed the “Swiss Army Knife” farm bill into law. “Despite its name, the farm bill is not just about helping farmers,” President Obama said at the signing. “Secretary Vilsack calls it a jobs bill, an innovation bill, an infrastructure bill, a research bill, …
Preview of CIRB Annual Mtg.
The Executive Vice President for the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau is Mike Torrey, pictured here on the right with new Chair Sheri Bane and just past Chair Greg Mills. Prior to our opening reception last night I visited with Mike to learn more about CIRB and what will take place during this annual meeting. By the time I interviewed …
Salmonella Testing at Roka BioScience
Salmonella threshold testing was the hot topic in the Roka BioScience booth at the 2015 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). I stopped by to talk with Ted Andrew, Director of Marketing and Product Development about their new approach to bacteria detection and other new opportunities they are offering the industry. “It’s a different way to look at pathogen testing. …
Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Phillip Seng
Agri-Pulse interviewed Philip Seng, President and CEO USMEF on Open Mic this week: International trade can be a “gold mine” for beef and pork producers as well as the grain growers they rely on for feed. However, U.S. red meat exports are challenged from lower domestic production and the rising value of the U.S. dollar. In this week’s Open Mic …