“I am a great believer in American ingenuity,” began Vilsack during his speech in Shenandoah, Iowa where the only first generation ethanol plant is co-located with an algae plant. “I’m a great believer in the capacity of the American farmer and rancher to literally meet any challenge.” Vilsack recently went on an “energy” tour of the Midwest where he visited …
American Ethanol Racing In Texas
Another way farming will be showcased on the race track this weekend is when American Ethanol heads to Texas this weekend for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway on April 8th beginning at 8:30 pm EST on ESPN2. While the ethanol logo is on all the race cars, keep your eye …
FAPRI: Farm Incomes Up But Not Biggest Driver in Consumer Price Rise
The amount consumers will be paying for food at the grocery store could jump this year, but rising farm incomes won’t be the biggest factor in that increase. The latest report from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri shows there will be good farm incomes in the U.S. this year … a record …
Potential Presidential Hopefuls at Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
Potential presidential candidates for 2012 were already testing the waters in the all-important Hawkeye State this week, appearing at the 5th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels (IRFA) Summit. Former speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich spoke to a full house of more than 700 at the summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. Gingrich supports all types of energy and strongly …
UC Davis Wins $40M in Ag Grants
UC Davis has won $40 million in federal grants to develop climate-change-tolerant plants and plants better suited to produce fuel. UC Davis scientists, who will led the various projects, will work with researchers at more than 50 universities spanning 20 states. UC Davis wheat geneticist Jorge Dubcovsky will receive $25 million to head a team that will work to develop …
Novozymes Acquires EMD/Merck Crop BioScience
Novozymes had acquired EMD/Merck Crop BioScience from Merck KGaA for US $275 and marks the company’s third major purchase in the agricultural biologicals sector in the past three years. EMD/Merck Crop BioScience is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the majority of the company’s activities take place in North and South America. Novozymes has spent the past few years building up …
Obama Signs Bill Giving Death Tax Relief
President Obama held a public signing ceremony for the tax bill passed by Congress this week that delivers early Christmas presents for everyone, giving farmers and ranchers good reason to be thankful this holiday season. Securing meaningful estate tax reform for farm and ranch families has been a top priority for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We commend President Obama …
Farm Bureau: Republicans Not Bad for Agriculture
While some are worried that the new fiscal hawks who were elected as the Republicans swept control of the U.S. House will be bad for agricultural interests in this country, the American Farm Bureau Federation says the shift to the right doesn’t necessarily mean the wrong path for farm policies. “I know there’s people in the press who have said, …
Book Review – The Food Wars
This week I read a book about the ongoing discussions regarding the causes of the food crisis. It should come as no surprise that several of the main reasons the globe is in the midst of a food crisis, according to a The Food Wars author Walden Bello, are commodity speculation, biofuels, increased demand for food in Asia brought on …
Fives Minutes with Farm Progress Fuel Sponsor Star Energy
The Farm Progress Show last week was a huge success, especially for the Farm Progress Show 2010 fuel sponsor Star Energy. They provided all the biodiesel, along with FS Companies of Iowa and Renewable Energy Group (REG). This is the company’s second year providing fuel for all the farm equipment along with generators and such things as gators with Dieselex …