Last Minute Senate Farm Bill Introduced
On Monday, with only weeks before the end of this session of Congress, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) at last released the text of her nearly 1400 page farm bill the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act.
According to Sen. Stabenow, the bill includes funding from the IRA. “This bill will roll the historic investment we made in the Inflation Reduction Act into the farm bill baseline for the future,” she said on the Senate floor. “We take dollars for voluntary conservation programs that farmers are using, right now that funding is outside the farm bill baseline, we can make a tremendous move forward for farmers by moving it into the farm bill baseline while keeping the language regarding climate.”
Stabenow says her bill improves on crop insurance for farmers. “Importantly, I include a provision that will partially reimburse farmers crop insurance premiums,” she said. “Again, we can use the structure and policies of a farm bill rather than ad hoc assistance and just move up the payments, provide more assistance right now, and do it while we’re passing a five year farm bill.”
Also on Monday, the White House made a formal request to Congress for $21 billion in disaster aid for farmers who have lost crops and livestock due to natural disasters over the past two years, including the most recent hurricanes.
Sen. Stabenow farm bill (10:47)NCBA Pleased with Election Results, Hopeful for Farm Bill
The 2024 election turned out well for the nation’s cattle producers, according to National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane.
“Whether it be a president that we’ve worked with before, whether it be the defeat of radical animal rights action around the country, a tremendous election cycle, and I think now eyes turn to what can be done with this in this new administration,” Lane said during an interview at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention last week. “There’s been discussion for months about how to tackle the tax package that’s expiring. The best case scenario was exactly what we’re looking at, which is, Republican control of the House, the Senate and the White House. So he I think is going to be very focused on getting that renewed, whether that’s the budget reconciliation process or elsewhere.”
During a panel at the convention, Lane agreed that the opportunity exists to get a farm bill through in the lame duck session. “You have this moment in time now where you’ve got a bill that passed out of the House Ag committee on a bipartisan basis,” he said. “So I think there are a lot of us that feel like maybe they could put the pieces together and get this cleared off the decks before we go into the 119th Congress.”
The last minute introduction Monday by Sen. Chairwoman Deb Stabenow of the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act could make that more difficult.
NAFB24 Ethan Lane, NCBA (4:56)Industry Ag News 11/18
AgGateway Wraps Up Successful Annual Meeting
AgGateway wrapped up another successful annual meeting last week in Austin, Texas.
“We’ve had increase in attendance, increase in registrations, increase in in sponsorship. It’s been just a solid year for the conference,” said AgGateway CEO Brent Kemp. “The conversations, the energy, the discussions and debates that we fostered here have all been super. We say bring your people and your problems here because we’re the place to to have the conversations, to get them solved. And boy did we.”
Kemp says one key topic this year has been identifying end user businesses and farmers for the purpose of helping retailers manage the rebate programs. “This is something that’s not new to the industry. We’ve been doing it since at least 1998 in one form or another, but we’ve got decades of stuff layered on top of things and everybody came together this week and said the system isn’t working as efficiently as it should be. How do we fix it together?”
Learn more in this interview.
AgGateway interview with Brent Kemp, CEO (9:23)
President-Elect Continues Naming Cabinet at Record Pace
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Colorado oil executive Chris Wright for Energy Secretary over the weekend, continuing an almost daily announcement of cabinet nominees since the election.
“It is amazing to me how quickly Trump has named 10 or 11 people out of the top 25,” said veteran farm policy expert Mary Kay Thatcher with Syngenta during an interview at the NAFB Convention last week. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we have them all before Thanksgiving and they’re going to be ready to go. And you know, one difference we will see from four years ago is that it was a Democratic Senate. So I’m not saying they stalled things, but I don’t think they had the incentive to move those confirmations along as quickly as possible as this Republican Senate is going to have. So I think we’re going to see those confirmations go much quicker.”
Still no Secretary of Agriculture announcement has been made, but industry organizations have welcomed the nominees made so far including North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior, and former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin for EPA Administrator.
Syngenta Sr. Manager, Federal Government and Industry Relations Mary Kay Thatcher
NAFB24 Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta (4:02)
Research Finds Brand New Mode of Nitrogen Action for Crops
New research published in Scientific Reports describes a breakthrough in nitrogen fertilizer technology seen as the first new mode of nitrogen action in crops to be discovered in a century.
Conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue University and Pivot Bio, the study shows that gene-edited microbes can fix nitrogen from the air and feed it to cereal plants’ roots, providing the essential nutrient to crops. The study highlights PROVEN® 40, Pivot Bio’s second-generation corn product, which introduces the first new mode of nitrogen action this century. It includes lab and field evidence of nitrogen fixation.
In field trials, researchers used isotopic experiments to confirm nitrogen fixation in real-world conditions and measure plant nitrogen levels. On average, plants treated with PROVEN 40 showed higher nitrogen levels early in the season with no yield loss, despite a reduction of 35-40 pounds of synthetic fertilizer per acre. This suggests PROVEN 40 can be integrated into nutrient management plans while maintaining crop productivity.
Pivot Bio senior manager of commercial agronomy Ryan Van Roekel, who is co-host of Pivot Bio’s new “N-SIGHTS from the Farm” was at the NAFB convention this week talking about the advantages of PROVEN® 40.
NAFB24 Ryan Van Roekel, Pivot Bio (2:38)
Precision Ag News 11/14
NAFB Post Election Panel Urges Farm Bill in Lame Duck
During a post-election newsmakers panel at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting Wednesday, representatives from National Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau Federation, and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association all agreed that Congress should work to pass a farm bill during the lame duck session.
“If we say that the Farm Bill is toast and it doesn’t stand a chance, that pretty much guarantees that’s going to be the outcome,” said NFU president Rob Larew. “The agenda that we’ll be talking about right next year is going to be crazy busy…where there isn’t going to be much desire for talk about beefing up the safety net, I just think this is our best opportunity right now in this lame duck.”
AFBF Vice President for Public Policy Sam Kieffer agreed 100 percent. “We’ve got an opportunity, I think, to continue to convey from rural America, from all across the country, that not only is there an opportunity, there’s a need to get it done in ’24.”
“I am in complete agreement with both of these guys on on that topic,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “This team has things to do and doing the farm bill starting from scratch is not one of them, nor should it be,” said Lane. “I think that the Dems are going to get a lot more reasonable about some of the SNAP provisions…this is a fair farm bill, this is a good farm bill and ag groups like it. It is time to get it passed. Clear the decks and and start fresh the next month.”
Of course they talked about a lot more on the panel, which also included former NCGA CEO Jon Doggett, Camas Creek LLC; and previous Senate Ag Committee economist John Newton, now with Terrain.
NAFB Post Election panel (59:49)
AgGateway Award Winners
The AgGateway Annual Conference wrapped up Wednesday in Austin after recognizing some of the members who help make this organization successful in its goals.
President’s Award – Theresa Fitzsimmons, Senior Business Analyst, Bayer US
Launched in 2016, the AgGateway President’s Award is presented to one individual or group that has made consistent and far-reaching positive impacts on organizational achievement over the course of several years.
“It really means a lot for me personally and for Bayer Crop Science. We’ve benefited from the work here at AgGateway for over a decade,” said Fitzsimmons.
AgGateway interview with Theresa Fitzsimmons, Bayer (1:33)
AgGateway in Action Award – U.S. – Zach Leiser, GROWMARK
The AgGateway In Action Awards are designed to recognize some of the hardest-working volunteers in the organization who have driven significant and tangible results over the past year in the organization’s the mission to promote and enable the transition to digital agriculture.
“Being a part of the Field Boundary Working Group has been something I can really sink my teeth into…being able to work collectively to move things forward across the industry is something we’re really excited about,” said Leiser.
AgGateway interview with Zach Leiser, GROWMARK (1:16)
Ron Storms Leadership Award – Kelly Nelson, FarmBelt North
The Ron Storms Leadership Award was created in 2004 to honor one of the early leaders and proponents of electronic connectivity in agriculture and to recognize consistent, outstanding efforts by an AgGateway volunteer member in promoting collaboration among AgGateway teams and advancing initiatives in digital agriculture. “It’s a team effort and I’m humbled to receive this award,” said Nelson, who is part of the AgGateway Digital Resource Center (DRC) team that publishes and maintains AgGateway’s digital resources, in close coordination with the Portfolio Management Center.
AgGateway interview with Kelly Nelson, FarmBelt North (:55)
Ron Farrell Attitude Award – Stuart Rhea, Endless Wonder Consulting
Ron Farrell, who passed away in 2020, was a founder of AgGateway, and for nearly two decades was a catalyst for the connectivity and interoperability initiatives the organization has enabled throughout its history. The Ron Farrell Attitude Award was launched in 2023 to recognize volunteers who make it their personal responsibility to make a difference in the industry. Rhea, who was honored last year with the Ron Storms award, was blown away to be chosen for this honor this year.
“I love what AgGateway is about, I love what they’re trying to accomplish,” said Rhea, who worked for Syngenta until the end of last year but has continued his work in the organization while starting a consulting business.
AgGateway interview with Stuart Rhea, Endless Wonder Consulting (1:23)