The first of several lawsuits filed against Syngenta is underway. Syngenta is facing dozens of lawsuits that claim a move by the company depressed corn prices in 2013. The farmers involved claim Syngenta’s selling of a corn trait that was not approved to export to China, and found in shipments of U.S. corn to China, depressed U.S. corn prices and …
U.S., EU, Opening Door to TTIP Talks
The European Union and the United States could soon be reviving negotiations of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross over the weekend told the Financial Times reducing the trans-Atlantic trade deficit in goods is a top priority. The $146 billion trans-Atlantic trade deficit is only second to China’s $347 billion deficit. Ross was hosting …
AFBF Labor Expert Taking USDA Post
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s immigration and labor expert is heading to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. AFBF’s director of congressional relations for labor and immigration, Kristi Boswell, will serve as a senior adviser to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Boswell starts next month at USDA and Politico reports she will be working on labor and immigration issues. Boswell is a …
Trump Promises Agriculture Executive Order Tuesday
The White House over the weekend promised an executive order for agriculture. In a memo to reporters, the White House press office said President Donald Trump would hold a roundtable discussion with farmers on Tuesday, and sign an executive order to protect and provide relief for rural America. Details on the executive order are similar to the Rural Council established …
Ag Groups Pleased With Perdue Confirmation
American Farm Bureau Federation The following may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall: “Farm Bureau heartily congratulates Secretary Sonny Perdue on his new role leading our nation’s Agriculture Department. We are eager for agriculture to finally have a seat in the president’s cabinet, and we know Secretary Perdue is just as eager to get to work …
Chairman Conaway Applauds the Confirmation of Secretary Perdue
House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway issued the following statement upon the confirmation of Governor Sonny Perdue as the 31st Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). “Today is a great day for American agriculture. Secretary Perdue is a strong friend of America’s farmers and ranchers, and I know he will work to ensure that agriculture is …
Renewal Sign-up for Expiring CSP Contracts Continues
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) reminds landowners that a contract renewal sign-up continues for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), NRCS did make several updates to the popular program last fall to help producers better evaluate conservation options that benefit their operations. Participants with existing CSP contracts that expire on December 31st can access the benefits of the recent program …
A Better Way to Pasteurize Eggs
An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist and his colleagues have developed a technology that rapidly pasteurizes eggs and could sharply reduce the number of illnesses caused each year by egg-borne Salmonella bacteria. The device invented by David Geveke, a chemical engineer at the ARS Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research Unit in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, uses radio frequency (RF) waves to …
Cotton Incorporated Launches New Consumer Campaign
Leave Comfort to Clothes Cotton Incorporated’s Consumer Marketing Division has announced the launch of a new consumer-directed advertising campaign, Leave Comfort to Clothes. “The ‘Leave Comfort to Clothes’ campaign leverages consumers’ strong connection between cotton and comfort and inspires them to rethink the way they view comfort,” says Jill Orsini, Cotton Incorporated’s Director of Advertising. “The comfort doesn’t come from …
RFA to EPA: Keep the RFS on Track in 2018
In a letter sent to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) encouraged the agency to ensure the 2018 RFS renewable volume obligation (RVO) rulemaking stays on schedule and maintains the conventional renewable fuel requirement at the statutory level of 15 billion gallons. Along with the letter, RFA submitted a new analysis to EPA showing that gasoline contained …