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 …
Do You AGree
There’s a new ag policy group in town. Welcome to AGree. Today eight of the world’s leading foundations launched AGree, a new initiative that will tackle long-term food and agriculture policy issues confronting the nation and the world as the population continues to grow and resources become ever-more constrained. AGree is launching at a pivotal moment for food and agriculture …
Republican Budget Would Cut Farm Spending
The FY 2012 Budget Resolution unveiled by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis) includes reforming current farm programs. The Republican budget plan would cut farm program spending by $30 billion over the next decade to “reflect the economic reality of record-high farm income by restructuring farm programs, saving taxpayers money and increasing farmer independence.” Net farm income this year …
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 …
American Farm Bureau Sets Policy
The votes are in, the delegates have spoken and the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting has concluded with a new set of policies. AFBF President, Bob Stallman, held a closing press conference to point out a few highlights from today’s decision making. He said that even with the adverse weather conditions that happened here in Atlanta the program ran smoothly …