Farm Bureau Sets 2018 Policy Agenda

Delegates of American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in Nashville, Tennessee, this week fine-tuned the organizations policy book for the year, to include improvements in the farm bill. AFBF Public Policy Executive Director Dale Moore says AFBF members want changes to the cotton and dairy programs in the next farm bill. Farm Bill AFBF also seeks an improved Agriculture Risk Coverage …

USDA Investing Millions in Wildfire Mitigation and Water Quality Projects Through Joint Chiefs’ Partnership

Projects will restore healthy forests on private and public lands in 24 states The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest nearly $32 million this year to mitigate wildfire risk, improve water quality and restore healthy forest ecosystems in 24 states and Puerto Rico. Since 2014, USDA has invested $176 million in 56 Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership Projects, which …

NCBA Working on ELD and Farm Bill

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) continues to work on a variety of issues here in 2018, some that they started dealing with last year. One of those is the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate, where a 90-day delay was granted for all delivery haulers, including those that transport livestock and other ag commodities. Colin Woodall, NCBA’s senior vice president …

Friday’s USDA Reports May Interest Cotton Producers

USDA’s next round of reports may have several things of interest to the cotton market. Gary Crawford explains why. Friday’s USDA Reports May Interest Cotton Producers Sponsored ContentCIR Agriculture Harvester ProductsNovember 1, 2026FL Cattle Enhancement Board Wraps up Funding YearJune 30, 2026Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Awarded Researcher Discusses New World Screwworm OverviewJune 19, 2026Verdant Robotics Offers Growers Targeted Application of …

Georgia Ag Commissioner Gary Black on Rural Prosperity Task Force Report

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black issued the following statement: “Our agricultural and rural communities have always been the backbone of our state and national economy and I applaud Secretary Perdue and the efforts of the Rural Prosperity Task Force that demonstrate a renewed emphasis on rural areas and agriculture production.  President Trump has in just one year already publicly …

November 2017 Pork Exports Set Value Record

Pork exports in November of last year set the highest-ever monthly value record, while beef export value took another step toward a likely full-year value record. November pork exports totaled nearly 224,000 metric tons, down slightly from a year ago, and November export value was a record-high $615.6 million, up five percent year-over-year and just the fourth-time monthly export value …

Senate Ag Gets New Members

The Senate agriculture committee has two new members to start the year. Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, has joined the committee, along with Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer. Smith was recently appointed to take the seat of resigned Senator Al Franken. She takes the committee seat of Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, who is leaving the Senate Ag …