by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida A revised measure that seeks to create a “deep” water-storage project south of Lake Okeechobee — and win support from the House and people throughout the Glades region — was overwhelmingly backed Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The $1.5 billion measure (SB 10), which relies on federal money to cover half …
Farmers and Ranchers Need Comprehensive Tax Reform
America’s farmers and ranchers need a flexible tax code that gives them freedom to both grow and adapt quickly to changes beyond their control, the American Farm Bureau Federation told Congress today. Pat Wolff, senior director of congressional relations for AFBF, addressed agriculture’s need for sweeping tax reform in a hearing before the House Agriculture Committee. “Running a farm or …
Survey: Consumers Baffled by Food Labels
A recent survey shows global consumers remain baffled by food labels. Sponsored by Elanco, The Truth About Food survey gathered input from 3,300 consumers in 11 countries. Of the findings, online meat industry publication Meatingplace reports the survey shows 82 percent of consumers said they buy organic products mainly because they believe the foods to be pesticide-free. But, In reality, …
AG Sessions Says Deportation to Focus on Felons, not Farm Workers
The Western Growers Association says recent comments by Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicate the Justice Department will focus on deporting felons, not farm workers. Sessions recently told Fox News the Justice Department does not intend to target illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes beyond illegally entering the country. Western Growers Association CEO Tom Nassif called the comments encouraging. Nassif …
Purdue Ag Economy Barometer Shows Slip in Confidence
The Ag Economy Barometer from Purdue University found confidence among farmers and ranchers slipped again last month. The Barometer slipped to 124 in March, marking the second month in a row that producer sentiment dropped below the prior month’s level. A rating below 100 is negative, while a rating above 100 indicates positive sentiment regarding the agriculture industry. Recent weakness …
Senate Ag Appropriator Says no Budget Cuts this Fiscal Year
The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations panel says there will be no budget cuts this fiscal year. North Dakota Republican John Hoeven says the current fiscal year is “too far along” to make an adjustment now, as requested by President Donald Trump. The President has proposed an $18 billion cut in discretionary spending, including more than $1 billion from …
Perdue Vote Won’t Happen This Week
The U.S. Senate will not be taking a vote to confirm Agriculture Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue this week. Instead, the Senate will be focusing time on a filibuster and confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch. With an upcoming recess, the delay means the vote for Perdue won’t happen until late this month, at the earliest. The former …
Subcommittee Examines Credit Programs in the Farm Bill
Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit, held a hearing to evaluate the effectiveness of farm bill authorized credit programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). This hearing is a continuation of the committee’s hearing series to set the stage for the next farm bill. Members of the committee …
McMillan Testifies During U.S. House Ag Committee Hearing on Farm Bill
Tim McMillan, farmer from Enigma, Georgia, testified today in support of maintaining the peanut provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program in the next farm bill. In his testimony, McMillan says, “If the PLC program had not been in place, I am afraid many farms in the Southeast would no longer exist because of …
USDA County-Level Data Dispute New NWF Study
If you were going to build a timber mill, would you put it in the middle of a desert, far away from the trees? If you were going into the orange juice business, would you build your processing plant in Maine, thousands of miles from the citrus groves of the Gulf Coast? Of course not. So, why on earth would …