The Renewable Fuels Association says its found evidence that RIN waivers are destroying ethanol demand. The Environmental Protection Agency has been handing out hardship waivers “like candy,” according to refining executives. The waivers grant refiners a pass on RINs, the mechanism by which Renewable Fuel Standard compliance is tracked. Renewable Fuels Association executive vice president Geoff Cooper says the credits …
House Ag Committee Advances Agriculture and Nutrition Act
The House Agriculture Committee passed out of committee the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R.2) – critical legislation to address the economic challenges facing the nation’s farmers and ranchers, while making historic investments in opportunities for SNAP recipients. Upon passage, Chairman K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) issued the below remarks: “Today’s vote was about America’s farmers and ranchers. It was …
Groups on House Agriculture Committee Approving 2018 Farm Bill
American Farm Bureau Federation: The following may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall: “The 2018 Farm Bill is ready for debate and amendments a mere six days after its introduction. A vote by the full House of Representatives is expected to soon follow. This is great news for farmers and ranchers everywhere. H.R. 2 – The …
UF/IFAS Joins 15 Other Universities in Telling Congress How They Feed the World
Federal Investment in Agricultural Research is Essential for US Farmers to Stay Competitive; FedByScience—Universities Telling Stories of Discovery—Launches Alongside 2018 Farm Bill China Has Outspent U.S. on Agriculture Research for the Past Decade; University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Joining National Initiative to Turn the Tables A new effort to boost federal investment in agricultural research—FedByScience—launched in …
Food Waste Resonates Beyond the Trash Bin
Here’s a thought to chew on before you toss out that unfinished meal or oddly shaped fruit or vegetable: U.S. consumers waste nearly a pound of food per person per day. So says a study published by a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and university scientists in the journal PLOS ONE. That food waste, in turn, is equivalent to about one-third the …
Perdue Comments Regarding Chinese Duties on U.S. Sorghum
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement regarding China’s announcement of duties of almost 179 percent on U.S. sorghum imports: “The international grain market is about the freest market there is, and it is ludicrous to even mention ‘dumping,’ because China can buy product from anywhere they choose. This is clearly a political decision by the …
National Sorghum Producers Disappointed in China Antidumping Determination
National Sorghum Producers expressed the organization is “deeply disappointed” in the preliminary antidumping determination issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce. China slapped a 179 percent tariff on U.S. sorghum imports. China is the largest buyer of U.S. sorghum products, purchasing more than $900 million worth last year. National Sorghum Producers released a statement Tuesday, saying U.S. sorghum producers and exporters …
Ethanol Organizations Applaud Japan Policy Shift To Allow Use Of U.S. Ethanol
Ethanol and trade groups are applauding the news that Japan will allow imports of a gasoline additive made from U.S. corn-based ethanol. The change comes as part of Japan’s update of its existing sustainability policy, approved in 2010, in which only sugarcane-based ethanol was eligible for import and which only allowed sugarcane-based ethanol for the production of ETBE, an oxygenate …
Thune Seeks Livestock Indemnity Program Changes
South Dakota Senator John Thune has asked the Department of Agriculture to make urgent changes to the Livestock Indemnity Program to assist farmers and ranchers. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Thune says a series of winter storms across the upper Midwest in March and April, the peak lambing and calving months for many livestock producers, has taken …
Ending Payment Limits Could Cause Farm Consolidation
The farm bill draft released by the House Agriculture committee includes provisions that “would reverse decades of precedent,” and usher in an era of “unlimited farm subsidies for the nation’s largest mega-farms,” according to the National Sustainable Ag Coalition. The coalition calls the farm bill a “brazen attempt to undo years of statute for the benefit of the nation’s largest …