The farm bill is important for agriculture and renewable energy and I had the opportunity to chat with a veteran farm policy expert who now serves as Vice President and Chief Economist for Growth Energy. Jim Miller has served many roles in his career, from leadership positions with the National Farmers Union and National Association of Wheat Growers to Senior …
Congressmen Visit Farm Progress Show
Two Illinois congressmen visited with agricultural leaders and the media during opening day of the Farm Progress Show in Decatur to talk about issues important to farmers and ranchers. Congressman Rodney Davis, a Republican from the district of Illinois that includes Decatur, is a member of both the House Agriculture and Transportation committees, so he is deeply involved in two …
Insider Look at 2013 for Food & Agriculture
How about some Farm to Fork Politics? That’s what we got to kick off 2013 National Ag Day activities in Washington, DC. Here are the panelists for the session that was sponsored by Agri-Pulse just prior to their annual reception. Seated l-r are Dr. Keith Collins, former USDA Chief Economist, B. Hudson Riehle, Senior VP of the Research & Information …
Farm to Fork Politics
The first in the series of 2013 National Ag Day activities is an Agri-Pulse sponsored session titled, “Farm to Fork Politics: An Insider’s look at the year ahead for food and agriculture” Join us for this panel discussion moderated by Sara Wyant of Agri-Pulse and featuring J.B. Penn of John Deere, former USDA Chief Economist, Dr. Keith Collins and B. …
Sequester Monster is Coming
The impending deadline for “sequestration” has taken on the character of a looming cataclysmic event or awakening of a sleeping monster in a horror movie – a monster with an axe aimed at all government spending. Sequester is scheduled to take effect on March 1 and so far Congress has made no effort to prevent the across the board spending …
Farm Policy Facts Relaunches Education Campaign
A diverse coalition of agricultural organizations that came together during the 2008 Farm Bill debate under the name Farm Policy Facts announced that they are stepping up education activities during the 113th Congress. Farm Policy Facts will communicate with the media and members of Congress via regular email alerts that will include a mix of farm policy news, detailed analysis …
Rally Calls for Farm Bill Now
About 500 people turned out for the Farm Bill Now rally near the Capitol on Wednesday, which featured members of Congress as well as representatives from a number of the nearly 100 organizations who make up the coalition calling for a comprehensive, five year food, farm and jobs legislation before the current bill expires at the end of this month. …
A FAPRI Farm Market Outlook
Patrick Westhoff is the Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri–Columbia and a professor in the MU department of agricultural and applied economics. He was also our St. Louis Agribusiness Club speaker yesterday. I spoke with him beforehand since I had to leave early. He says his job was to talk about …
Iowa Corn Caucus Grades Candidates on Farm Issues
The Iowa Corn Caucus released its report card for presidential candidates today, giving grades for different policy areas related to agriculture with an overall grade for each candidate. The highest overall grade went to Newt Gingrich, who scored straight As on every single policy issue. Second in the class was Rick Santorum, who had mostly A’s but faltered under farm …
Vilsack Talks Farm Bill at John Deere
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack chose the John Deere Des Moines Works facility to talk about his priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill, which he says is really a misnomer. “After all, for decades this bill has been about a whole lot more than just farming. It’s been about energy, it’s been about nutrition, it’s been about jobs. Now, some may …