During #CattleCon18 I visited with Farm Credit to learn what they are offering to cattle ranchers. I talked with Todd Moore (pictured), Farm Credit Mid-America, first and asked him what the message is for those attending. He says that with the volatility in cattle prices lender are talking to their customers and asking questions like, “Do they have a risk …
Ag Policy Update: Farm Bill, Budget Deals & Trade
The Missouri Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Conference took place over the weekend. I was able to attend with my husband and had great intentions to not ‘work.’ But when I heard topics being discussed that are timely and others might learn from, I couldn’t help but pull out my recorder and gather some content. Missouri Farm Bureau’s Director …
Study Shows U.S. Lags Behind in Developing Ag Exports
The latest analysis of foreign export promotion program investment shows that several competing countries and the European Union outspent the United States in publicly-funded agricultural export promotion by a margin of four to one in 2016, according to a release from the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports and the Agribusiness Coalition for Foreign Market Development. The other countries spent …
New Coalition Advocates For NAFTA Preservation
More than 30 organizations have joined to form Americans for Farmers & Families (AFF), a coalition dedicated to preserving and modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by educating political leaders about its importance to agriculture. The groups represent growers, refiners, producers, transporters, retailers and consumers, including major industry organizations such as American Farm Bureau, Corn Refiners Association, National …
ASTA CSS 2017 Attendance Strong
The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is ushering in the holiday season in its traditional way – with the annual CSS & Seed Expo in Chicago. ASTA president and CEO Andy LaVigne says turnout at the annual event that includes the industry’s biggest trade show is still very strong despite ongoing mergers and acquisitions. “We’ll probably have close to 2700 …
New White Paper Explores Opportunities for U.S. Ag in Cuba
Two leading advocates for normalizing trade with Cuba announced the release of a new white paper, Opportunities for U.S. Agriculture in Cuba: A White Paper, that examines how 16 farm states could benefit if the U.S. repeals longstanding restrictions on food sales to the island nation. The paper was produced by Cuba Trade Magazine and the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for …
Trade Tops Priority List for Beef Sector
A fourth-generation rancher on the central coast of California, Kevin Kester is president-elect for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). I was able to catch up with him during the National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s annual event to learn about NCBA’s top priorities going into 2018. As you can guess trade will top their list. Kester is on Secretary of …
Trade, Farm Bill & Taxes…Oh My!
Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst represented the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) at last week’s NAFB Trade Talk. As you can guess, trade, 2018 farm bill and tax reform were key issues we discussed. When it comes to NAFTA renegotiations, Hurst said, “U.S. agriculture can see some benefits from this renegotiation. We can see changes to phytosanitary rules. We …
NCGA Fighting For NAFTA
The National Corn Growers Association is making it clear that free trade with Mexico is a top priority for its members. NCGA First Vice President Lynn Chrisp said Mexico buys $2.5 billion worth of corn from U.S. farmers each year, making it the number one export market for that product. NCGA is one of 168 companies and trade associations from …
Howard Buffett Discusses World Ag Issues at NAFB
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting welcomed Howard G. Buffett to the 2017 NAFB Convention in Kansas City on Thursday. In addition to being Chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Buffett also owns farms in Illinois and Nebraska and oversees ranches in Arizona and a farm in Texas. Buffett participated in a question and answer session moderated …