Farm Bill Blame Game

Cindy Zimmerman

The shock over the defeat of the farm bill in the U.S. House of Representatives had barely sunk in Thursday when the blame game began.

It started on the floor of the House when Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was giving an update on next week’s schedule and Minority Whip Steney Hoyer (D-VA) asked whether the student loan program would be addressed. “If the gentleman witnesses what just happened on the floor,” said Cantor, “There seems to be a decision on the part of his leadership, we’re not going to go along with bipartisan work and success and maybe we’re just going to make this a partisan issue.”

hoyerThat set off Hoyer, understandably so. “I wasn’t going to bring up what happened today, but what happened today is that you turned a bipartisan bill, necessary for our farmers, necessary for our consumers, necessary for the people of America, that many of us would have supported, and you turned it into a bipartisan bill,” Hoyer said, setting off an argument between the two accusing each side of killing the bill.

Listen to part of that here: Congressmen Hoyer and Cantor on Farm Bill defeat

The deal breaker for many Democrats was a last minute amendment by Steve Southerland of Florida which gave states the option to require food stamp beneficiaries to either work or look for work. House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN) told reporters after the vote that between that and the amendment by Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) changing the dairy program he lost at least 15 Democrat votes he expected to have for the bill. “Those two votes cost us a lot of votes and I would guess it didn’t get them a damn thing on their side,” he said. Collin Peterson comments (courtesy of Agri-Pulse)

In fact, at least 58 Republicans who voted in favor of the deal killing Southerland amendment voted against the final bill, which was pointed out by several Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who was blamed specifically in a statement by Cantor for failure to pass the bill. Watch her reaction in the YouTube video below.

Audio, Farm Bill, Video

Trust the Technology

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyChoosing how much nitrogen (N) to put on fields isn’t something farmers take lightly. Many factors go into the decision, including past experiences, the timing of application, yield goals, and results from soil tests.

That’s where crop sensor products such as OptRX from Ag Leader can help. When the OptRx sensors detect healthy plants, the system will call for less N to be applied. When the OptRx sensors see plants that need some help, the system will recommend more N.

Growers need to trust the technology. Trust that the sensors will detect if and when more N needs to be applied. “Have faith that the sensors are going to do what they’re built to do.” That’s what Chad Fick, Ag Leader crop sensor product specialist, says, especially in “odd” years like this when crop sensors can play a big role in producing healthy crops.

Listen to Fick explain

Fick says crop sensors help growers get the best yields possible while not being wasteful.

Listen to Fick explain

Fick says there are two different approaches and strategies to using crop sensors.

Listen to Fick explain

So what are the advantages to using OptRx sensors?

Listen to Fick explain

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

Update on Accord

Maggie Seiler

asta-13-accordThe 130th ASTA annual meeting gave attendees an opportunity to receive an update on the progress of the Accord initiative that is a joint effort of ASTA with the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). “The Accord is an industry-led framework that is meant to address situations when biotech events go off patent and how we maintain the regulatory approvals worldwide for those events,” Bernice Slutsky, Senior Vice President for Domestic and International Policy for ASTA, said. Accord includes two major agreements, the Generic Event Marketability and Access Agreement (GEMAA) and the Data Use and Compensation Agreement (DUCA).

The update provided at ASTA’s annual meeting informed ASTA members that the GEMAA had been completed and open for signatures and currently has 10 signatures. The DUCA is scheduled to be completed and opened by the end of the year. “The DUCA is a larger agreement. It is meant to address some of the more complicated regulatory issues associated with stacked products,” Slutsky said.

According to Slutsky, the framework will hopefully ensure that farmers and stakeholders will be able to continue to trade their products uninterrupted as the biotechnology events go off patent.

Listen to an interview with Slutsky conducted by Meghan Grebner, Brownfield Ag News, here: Interview with Bernice Slutsky

ASTA Annual Meeting Photo Album

Agribusiness, ASTA, Biotech, Seed

Ag Disappointed in House Farm Bill Vote

Cindy Zimmerman

The defeat of a five year farm bill in the House of Representatives was unexpected and disappointing to agricultural organizations looking forward to getting some certainty for the future after last year’s drawn out battle that ultimately ended in a one year extension of the 2008 bill.

“The American Farm Bureau Federation is highly disappointed the House did not complete work on the 2013 farm bill,” said American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman in a statement. “It was a balanced bill that would have provided much needed risk management tools and a viable economic safety net for America’s farmers and ranchers.”

fb-no-buttonNational Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson said they are not just highly but “extremely” disappointed to see the House fail to pass the bill. “Up to the last minute our organization has actively and consistently called for passage of the legislation,” she said. “We will be engaged in all efforts needed to secure passage in the House and bring the bill to Conference.”

National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued a statement saying they are “deeply” disappointed, adding that “With today’s failure to pass a farm bill, the House has let down rural America.”

American Soybean Association President Danny Murphy voiced not only extreme disappointment but frustration as well. “Today’s failure leaves the entire food and agriculture sector in the lurch. Once again, the nation’s soybean farmers and the 23 million Americans whose jobs depend on agriculture are left holding the bag.”

Even the cattlemen are disappointed. “This failure by the House places cattlemen and women behind the curve on having agriculture policy which not only provides certainty for producers nationwide, but also incorporates priorities important to the cattle industry,” says National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Scott George. “This was not a perfect bill for any industry, but in the end cattlemen and women made sacrifices in order to support this bill. We expected members of the House to do the same.”

As to what happens now, no one really knows, but there are several options. The House could go back to committee and try again, which Rep. Frank Lucas is likely not excited about. They could go to conference with the Senate and try to negotiate with nothing as happened when the House failed to pass a transportation bill last year. Otherwise, they have to approve yet another extension unless they want to revert back to so-called “permanent” 1949 farm law. We’ve never done that, but that threat is always there.

AFBF, Corn, Farm Bill, NCBA, NCGA

Seed Advocate Program Launched at ASTA Meeting

Maggie Seiler

asta-13-millerThe American Seed Trade Association introduced their new seed advocate program at the 130th ASTA annual meeting. The intention of the program is to help grow grassroots leadership to communicate with policy makers about the seed industry. “We will provide them with the information and tools they need so they can continue that interaction with their government employees for positive policy for the seed industry,” Pat Miller, Director of State Affairs for ASTA, said.

Miller said the main issue that they are looking at advocating currently is favorable labeling laws for genetically modified seeds. He said that ASTA also monitors policies that affect taxes and regulations of the seed industry. Members of the seed advocate program would receive information from ASTA on issues like these to be able to engage their local policy makers in conversations about them.

According to Miller, anyone interested in the seed industry can be a seed advocate. People involved in advocacy currently range from large corporation representatives to location managers. If you are interested in more information about the program or would like to get involved, click here.

Listen to an interview with Pat Miller conducted by Meghan Grebner, Brownfield Ag News, here: Interview with Pat Miller

ASTA Annual Meeting Photo Album

Agribusiness, ASTA, Audio, Seed

House Farm Bill Goes Down in Defeat

Cindy Zimmerman

lucasDespite an impassioned plea by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas to “move this bill forward” the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (FARRM) failed on a vote of 194 to 234, with 60 Republicans joining the majority of Democrats to defeat the House version of the farm bill.

“If it fails today, I can’t guarantee you’ll see in this Congress another attempt,” said Lucas. “If you care about your folks, if you care about this institution … vote with me on final. If you don’t, when you leave here they’ll just say it’s a dysfunctional body, a broken institution full of dysfunctional people. That’s not true!”

Sorry, Frank – it appears it is true.

Listen to Rep. Lucas urging his colleagues to vote for the bill Rep. Frank Lucas on the House farm bill

Link to Roll Call vote – take note of who voted against the bill for future reference!

Audio, Farm Bill

Government Taking Away Privacy

Talia Goes

Before we get to our new Zimmpoll let’s look at the results of our latest one which asked the question, “ What is your opinion of Senate immigration bill?” From our poll results it looks like you want to see changes to the immigration bill.

Our poll results: Forty-one percent said Border Security First! Sixteen percent said Bad Deal Overall, Fourteen percent said Needs Improvement, eleven percent said Will Never Pass House, eight percent said Great For America, and six percent said Good For Agriculture and Other. Not many are happy with the immigration farm bill as it stands. We will see what changes are made as it advances to the next level.

Untitled

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How concerned are you about the government having your private data?” Recent information privacy scandals with the EPA and NSA have brought the issue of privacy to the forefront. A lot of agricultural information in digital form is being collected by various services, including the government. How do you feel about it now? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

ZimmPoll

Hershey…..Not the Candy Bar

Melissa Sandfort

20130603_074722Another school story, but this one is about a young boy’s dedication to caring for his bucket calf. Oh, those 4-H projects that became family members…

I had gone to school early one morning and was enjoying the quiet – mentally preparing for the day. The phone ringing in my room interrupted thoughts of how to creatively teach simple division.

The mother of one of my students was on the phone, explaining that her son’s bucket calf was missing. He had gone out to take care of his calf, Hershey, and the calf was nowhere to be found. She was sending her son to school, but wanted to give me a ‘heads up’ that he was terribly upset.

Yes, this third grade boy had a horrible time concentrating on much of anything that morning. We did our best to try and make him feel better, but the worry was there.

The secretary did not interrupt our classes with many phone calls unless there was an important message. I told her the situation and asked that she call my room if there was news of Hershey. When the phone rang, I crossed my fingers that it was good news about Hershey. Now, to some of you that may not qualify as an important message, but if you would have seen this young boy’s face light up when he got the news they had found Hershey, you would think differently.

The next day in math class, we divided Hershey…Yes, the candy!

(Melissa here) This is a picture of our friend’s bucket calf. Her name is (oh boy are you ready for this?) Cinderella Baby Calf. Before Vacation Bible School one morning, the kids gathered around and “helped” Matt with the morning feeding. Now some may call it bribery when you use an innocent bucket calf to get your kids up and out the door in the morning, but I think it’s healthy to see them excited about agriculture.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Food Dialogues Transparency

Chuck Zimmerman

June 2013 Food Dialogues Yesterday’s Food Dialogues topic was, “TRANSPARENCY AND FOOD: OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO TODAY’S CONSUMER.” This was part two of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance panel discussion in Chicago on the topic. The event took place at Kendall College School of Cullinary Arts.

Panelists included Ellie Krieger, moderator, RD, host of Food Network’s Healthy Appetite, and New York Times best-selling cookbook author View Full Bio; Bo Stone, Farmer, P & S Farms, Rowland, NC; Gene Kahn, Former President and CEO of Cascadian Farms; Brad Nelson, Marriott International Corporate Chef and Vice President of Culinary; Kathleen Merrigan, Former Deputy Secretary Dept. of Agriculture; David Fikes, Food Marketing Institute Vice President, Consumer/Community Affairs, Communications; Lynn Martz, farmer, Martz Family Farm, Maple Park, Ill.; Jayson Lusk, Oklahoma State University agriculture economist and author, “Food Police” and Jim Riddle, Organic Research Grants Coordinator, The Ceres Trust, and owner, Blue Fruit Farm.

You can still watch the event via the recording below.

Ag Groups, Food, USFRA