The Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency is reminding the ag community of operating and farm ownership loans and installment loans for bad credit to underserved and beginning farmers. For decades now, the FSA has set aside funds, earmarked for these two specific groups. Houston Bruck of the Washington State FSA says not only do these loans help new farmers …
Few Senators Mention Agriculture in Tax Bill Debate
The Senate-passed tax bill that the House must now either accept or reconcile with its own, would have a big-impact on agriculture. Yet, few Senators even mentioned agriculture in the days-long debate leading up to the early-morning Saturday vote. Agriculture was largely ignored in the marathon debate on the GOP Senate tax bill, that passed 51 to 49 with just …
UF Professor Helps Write Latest Edition of Gold Standard Propagation Textbook
Growers, students and professors use this textbook across the world, and now a UF/IFAS environmental horticulture professor has helped write the new edition of what those in the industry and academia consider the Bible of propagation texts. Sandra Wilson is now the fifth author in the nearly 60-year history of the book, Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices. Wilson co-authored the …
Ag State Lawmakers Voice Concern Over Possible NAFTA Withdrawal
Ag State lawmakers continue to voice strong concern, even worry, that the U.S. may pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with dire consequences for home-state farmers and ranchers. The latest Department of Agriculture export forecast shows the importance of Canada and Mexico as the U.S.’s second and third-largest markets, respectively, and Secretary Sonny Perdue hails both, …
General Mills Contributes to National Wheat Foundation
General Mills has sent a contribution of $735,000 to the National Wheat Foundation. The funds are earmarked for the foundation to work with the Soil Health Partnership to advance adoption and implementation of soil health practices. The funds, equally distributed over the next three years, will be used to conduct soil health research on wheat farms and education outreach to …
Grain Elevator Profit Margins Could Increase in 2018
A new report from CoBank says 2018 could bring an increase in profit margins for grain elevators. The report cites a weak harvest basis, along with low transportation rates, and other issues for the prospect of improved profit margins. A CoBank researcher also says a large carryover and another huge crop have “created an attractive carry in futures markets, particularly …
USGC, NCGA Reiterate Support for KORUS, NAFTA
Leadership from the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) last week spent time in South Korea and Mexico to talk trade. The two organizations met with customers and government officials during what they call a period of policy uncertainty in the U.S. corn industry’s top markets. Mexico is the top purchaser of U.S. corn, while South …
NAFTA May be Nearing Breaking Point
Forbes speculates that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations may be reaching a breaking point. Little progress has been made in previous talks as the U.S. continues to push a hardline stance that the governments of Canada and Mexico aren’t going to accept. Last week, a government official from Mexico left a meeting with the Trump Administration with …
Farmers Commend Senate Action on Tax Reform
The following may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall: “ Farmers and ranchers have long called for a fair tax code that recognizes our hard work as well as the unique challenges we face in growing our nation’s food, fiber and fuel. The Senate’s passage of tax reform legislation today puts us within reach of that …
Creating an Ag Industry Common Software Language
Syngenta is helping to lead an industry-wide effort to develop common language for farm software and equipment. The Agricultural Data Application Programming Toolkit, known as ADAPT, is a project that Ag Gateway, a nonprofit group of more than 230 ag companies is spearheading. Aaron Deardorff, head of digital agriculture solutions at Syngenta explains the benefits of ADAPT for U.S. growers. …