An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist has found a way to find hidden defects in the animal hides that become our footwear, sporting goods, fashion accessories and other leather goods. About 90 percent of the 32 million hides produced by the meat industry in the United States each year is exported. Before they are sold in international markets, they are …
Congress Returns Next Month Facing Challenges
Congress returns next month and immediately faces huge spending and debt ceiling challenges, before other politically important measures like tax reform and the farm bill. House and Senate appropriators have both sent USDA spending bills to the full House and Senate, though neither has acted yet, and the two bills that both reject big cuts proposed by the president would …
EPA Administrator Asks Cattlemen to Submit WOTUS Comments
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association released a video featuring Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, in which Pruitt urges farmers and ranchers to submit official comments on the repeal of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule before the Agency’s deadline of Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. “When comments are made a part of a record – as rule-making – we have an …
Family Farm Action Lobbying Group Launched
A new political organization says it will fight for America’s family farmers and rural communities. The Family Farm Action group was launched this week, and says it will “fight to protect” America’s family farms and rural communities from multinational agribusiness monopolies that are “destroying rural economies and way of life.” The Kansas City, Missouri-based group’s President Joe Maxwell, a Missouri …
Roberts, McCaskill To Host Agriculture Security Roundtable
Senate Agriculture Chair Pat Roberts of Kansas, along with Senate Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri will hold a roundtable discussion Friday on agriculture security. Senators McCaskill and Roberts will discuss the role of the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies in protecting farmers and ranchers, and our nation’s food supply. The discussion Friday in Kansas City, Missouri is hosted …
Not All Ag Groups Happy with Direction of NAFTA Talks
A handful of farm groups says the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation goals favor corporate agribusiness over family farmers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Politico reports that a coalition of farm groups argues that increasing exports won’t replace the need for fair prices in disputes such as the one over Canada’s dairy supply management system, along with eliminating …
USDA Disaster Designation for 11 Alabama Counties
United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, announced that 11 Alabama counties are under a Secretarial natural disaster designation. Farmers in these counties which are classified by USDA as “primary” may be eligible for emergency loans from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). Those farmers in counties that are contiguous to these primary counties may be eligible as well. The …
Alabama NRCS Soil Quality Sign-Up Continues
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist for Alabama, Ben Malone, recently announced the agency is providing funding to help landowners improve soil quality through a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project. But the signup deadline is August 28.
Agritourism Offers Luxury in Northwest Florida
According to USDA’s Ag Census, 105 million visitors spent more than $85 billion in 2015 on agritourism in Florida. The number of Florida farms offering recreational experiences more than doubled from 2007 to 2012. And technical and financial assistance available from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida has helped some of these small farms achieve their goals.
U.S., Canadian and Mexican Farm Groups Support Modernized NAFTA
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Mexico’s Consejo Nacional Agropecuario (CNA) sent a joint letter to Canadian, the United States, and Mexican government officials reiterating their calls that NAFTA renegotiations should aim to modernize the agreement, rather than dismantle it. The AFBF, CFA, and CNA agree that agriculture represents one of NAFTA’s biggest success …