A new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture released last week shows 99 percent of U.S. farms were family farms in 2015. Family farms, according to USDA, are classified as a farm where the principal operator and his or her relatives owned the majority of the business. The report shows that small family farms—those with less than $350,000 in …
Locomotive Makes Triumphant Return to U.S. Sugar
U.S. Sugar is welcoming home the return of locomotive Engine No. 148, a steam locomotive once used to haul sugarcane from the fields to the mill in the 1950s. U.S. Sugar recently bought back the engine from a private owner and plans to restore it to its original glory. Engine No. 148 was shipped by rail from Colorado and is …
Tuesday is Deadline to Return County Committee Election Ballots
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) wants to remind farmers and ranchers that next Tuesday, Dec. 13, is the deadline to submit ballots for the 2016 County Committee Elections. Producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program to be eligible to vote in the County Committee election. FSA Administrator Val Dolcini says after the ballots have all been counted, …
Discussions on Tightening Estate Tax Rules
The Obama Administration is racing to finalize as many new rules and regulations as it can before January 20th. But one of those that could hang over into the new administration would tighten estate tax rules. The American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and other farm groups argue the Internal Revenue Service proposal would end or reduce discounts …
Trump Picks Oklahoma’s Pruitt to Lead EPA
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as his Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Pruitt has spent much of his energy as attorney general fighting the agency he is being nominated to lead, according to the Washington Post. He is suing the EPA over climate change rules and is vastly opposed to the Waters of the U.S. rule, …
Eufaula Couple Named 2017 Alabama NRCS Small Farmers of the Year
This week, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Alabama announced that Russell and Jewel Bean of Eufaula, Alabama have been named the Alabama NRCS 2017 Small Farmers of the Year. Download Audio Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Allows Viable Research in the Cattle IndustryFebruary 6, 2026Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Track Record Well Received By LegislatorsJanuary 30, 2026Florida Cattle Enhancement …
Alabama’s Largest Farm Organization Elects Officers, Directors
From the Alabama Farmers Federation: Jimmy Parnell of Stanton in Chilton County was re-elected to a third two-year term as president of Alabama’s largest farm organization during the Alabama Farmers Federation’s 95th annual meeting in Montgomery this week. Five hundred delegates from all 67 counties voted in the business session. Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Allows Viable Research in the …
Farm Income Drops 17 Percent in 2016
U.S. farmers will see their net incomes drop in 2016 for the third consecutive year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says weaker cash returns on livestock, poultry, and dairy farms will drive income down 17.2 percent to $66.9 billion this year. That forecast would be 46 percent lower than the record profits of $123.7 billion in 2013. An article on …
House Speaker Promises Regulation Relief in Next Congress
House Speaker Paul Ryan promises to provide regulatory relief during the next Congress. The Wisconsin Republican over the weekend used agriculture as an example of needing relief during a CBS 60 Minutes interview. He called regulatory relief his second priority, following a plan to repeal Obamacare. Ryan says he wants to have “smarter regulations” that can help grow jobs. He …
Kubota Begins Construction on Major Expansion of its National Distribution Center in Georgia
Kubota Tractor Corporation announced last week it has begun construction on an important 617,865 sq. ft. expansion of its National Distribution Center here in the Southeast. It will all take place on the company’s existing property in Jefferson, Georgia, adjacent to the Kubota Industrial Equipment (KIE) facility off of I-85 North. Download Audio Sponsored ContentFlorida Cattle Enhancement Board Allows Viable …