Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Cary Lightsey of Lake Wales, Fla., has been selected as the newest judge of the prestigious Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year awards. This year as a judge, he will join farmer Thomas Porter, Jr., from Concord, N.C., and Charles Snipes of Greenville, Miss., in visiting the farms of the …
Pruitt, Zinke Visit State Farm Bureau Presidents
During a Washington, D.C. meeting earlier this week, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told state Farm Bureau President’s that “The farming industry deserves regulatory certainty.” While speaking during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Council of President’s meeting, Pruitt told the group EPA is returning power to the states and “standing with farmers who have been hurt by misguided policies …
Tennessee Joins Other States limiting Dicamba Use
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture announced new limits on the use of dicamba-based herbicides this week. The move follows practical bans issued by Arkansas and Missouri for using dicamba for row crop applications, as concerns and drift damages mount. Missouri, however, released its “stop sale, use or removal” order Thursday on dicamba-based herbicides. The new rule in Tennessee restricts the …
Cattle Groups Applaud Proposed Delay of Electronic Logging Requirements for Trucking
Cattle groups, including the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, applauded the proposed delay of electronic logging requirements for livestock haulers. Language in a U.S. House bill would delay the requirements mandating the use of electronic logging devices in livestock hauling trucks for one year. USCA’s Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Hilker says the bill allows time for …
KORUS Review Could Follow NAFTA Renegotiations
The Donald Trump Administration appears to be planning to reexamine the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) after the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations, if not sooner. Politico reports that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week formally requested talks with South Korea to consider changes to the five-year-old deal, with a focus on reducing the $28 billion bilateral …
Farms and Ranches Need Tax Relief Now
from American Farm Bureau Farm and ranch families need a permanent tax code that boosts the agricultural economy and frees them to reinvest in their businesses, Scott VanderWal, a South Dakota farmer, told the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy. “Farmers and ranchers operate under tight profit margins, often at rates of return that are modest compared to …
Chinese Fund Purchasing Dow Seed Business in Brazil
A Chinese investment fund has paid $1.1 billion to purchase Dow Chemical Company’s corn seed business in Brazil, a move Reuters calls a further sign of China’s fast-expanding role in the global seed sector. The assets, which generated revenue of about $287 million in 2016, are being sold by Dow to meet conditions set by U.S. antitrust regulators for its …
Germany Pork Consumption at 11 Year Low
Pork consumption in Germany has fallen to an 11 year low, as the nation is cutting back on the world-recognized Bratwurst and hot dogs in favor for more vegetables. Bloomberg News reports Germans last year consumed the smallest amount of pork since at least 2005, and the drop will continue in 2017. Pork still accounts for more than half the …
Politico: Nebraska Ag Director Being Considered for USDA Under Secretary
Nebraska Agriculture Director Greg Ibach is said to be in the running for a top post at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Politico reports that several unnamed sources say Ibach is being considered, which would put yet another Midwestern farmer at the top of the department. Ibach has led the Nebraska Agriculture Department since 2005. Politico speculates that Ibach is …
NAFTA Boosted Canada’s Corn Syrup Consumption
A new study claims the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has drastically changed the Canadian diet by boosting consumption of high-fructose corn syrup. The peer-reviewed study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that as tariffs on high-fructose corn syrup dropped over a four-year period, consumption grew from 21.2 calories of corn syrup per day in 1994 to …