Agri-Pulse Open Mic this week features Sen. Kent Conrad. As a former Chair of the Senate Budget Committee the North Dakota Democrat is well versed on the country’s challenging fiscal policy. In this week’s interview Senator Conrad discusses the appropriations deadline, the debate over the debt ceiling, the advantages to a two-year budget and secure long term funding for the …
2016 Prez Candidates Address Hunger, Poverty
Yesterday following the Iowa Hunger Summit, several nonprofit organizations including Feeding America, Bread for Life and the Iowa Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, launched the Vote to End Hunger Campaign. The initiative is to hold presidential candidates’ responsible for ending hunger and poverty in the U.S. and globally. The campaign was launched in Des Moines, Iowa they day before …
Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Rep. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin
Agri-Pulse Open Mic this week features Wisconsin Representative Reid Ribble. The 8th district Republican left the Freedom Caucus last week in the fallout from a failed attempt to elect a new House Speaker. In this week’s interview, Ribble outlines challenges the Congress faces in approving a spending plan and his efforts to bring about a two-year budget cycle. He sees …
NFU DC Fly-In Focuses on Top Issues
Members of the National Farmers Union (NFU) are meeting with administration officials and Congressional representatives in Washington DC this week for the organization’s 2015 Fall Legislative Fly-In. “This fall has proven to be a very important time for several Farmers Union issues, including the path forward for voluntary Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), the full implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) …
Senator Roberts Happy About WOTUS Decision
A federal judge has put the brakes on the controversial “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule in several states, and that has gained praise from the chairman of the Senate Ag Committee. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) welcomed the preliminary injunction to stop the WOTUS rule in North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming …
Clinton Unveils Ag Plan, Gets Vilsack Support
With a John Deere tractor as a backdrop, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton went where no candidate has gone yet – into a detailed discussion on agricultural issues. Introduced by former Iowa governor and current Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Clinton discussed her plan to support rural America and agriculture during a visit to Ankeny, Iowa Wednesday. Clinton’s plan includes …
Priority Issues for Missouri Policy Makers
Missouri State Fair’s legislator day brought policy makers together to talk about issues facing not only Missouri farmers and ranchers but about regulation that affects those involved with agriculture across the country. On that list was immigration. We have heard many of the front running political candidates give their opinions, but few have touched on it’s impact on agriculture. Missouri …
Final Republicans Take the Soapbox Stage
The last batch of Republican presidential candidates took the Soapbox stage this weekend during the last weekend of the Iowa State Fair. U.S. Senator from Texas Ted Cruz (R) took much of his time to crack jokes about the Democrats and the rest of his time to talk about all the U.S. government executive orders he would rescind and government …
Busy Year for America’s Renewable Future
It was only eight months ago that America’s Renewable Future (ARF) was launched in Iowa with the goal of educating presidential candidates about agriculture and biofuels in general and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in particular. But what the coalition has accomplished in that short time has been so impressive that the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) recognized them with …
America’s Renewable Future Talks to Trump
America’s Renewable Future (ARF) is less than one year old, but has already made an impact when it comes to educating presidential candidates about the importance of agriculture and renewable fuels. Eric Branstad, son of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, was one of the main organizers of the coalition which just launched in January of this year. “Since then we’ve been …