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 …
USDA Releases July WASDE, Crop Production Reports
The recent World Agriculture Supply and Demand (WASDE) report by the Department of Agriculture projects corn and soybean farmers will grow more crop than previously anticipated. USDA on Wednesday increased 2017-18 corn production to an estimated 14.255 billion bushels and soybean production to 4.26 billion bushels. Corn production came in slightly above the highest pre-report estimates while soybean production came …
New Date for Florida State Technical Advisory Committee Meeting
We told recently that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida was inviting producers and landowners to its State Technical Advisory Committee meeting, on August 17. But NRCS announced this week the date of that meeting has been changed. The meeting instead has been moved up a couple of days and now will take place August 15. Sponsored ContentWhat …
Drought Funding Application Deadline Nearing in Alabama
July 28 is an important date to remember. That is the application deadline for landowners impacted by last year’s extreme drought to apply for funding through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Alabama. Sponsored ContentWhat Sets Provysol® Fungicide ApartJuly 8, 2025CIR Agriculture Harvester ProductsJuly 1, 2025Nuseed Carinata Covers New GroundOctober 1, 2024
2017 Georgia Grown Test Kitchen Schools
Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black has announced the latest schools selected to participate in the Georgia Grown Test Kitchen program. This is the fourth year of the program, which promotes local and healthy eating in schools across the state by supplying school nutrition directors with healthy recipes using Georgia Grown commodities. This year’s additions are: Glascock Consolidated …
Canadian Problems with PEDv Continue to Grow
The continued surge of a piglet-killing virus in Canada is starting to threaten a share of pork supplies in the U.S. Fifty cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PEDv, have been confirmed in Manitoba between May 1 and July 4th. The virus has affected over 63,000 sows at hog operations in southeast Manitoba, Canada’s third biggest pork producer. Bloomberg …