Farmers air concerns about farm bill
Farmers at a mid-February hearing told U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana and Mike Strain, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, that large areas of cropland may not be planted this year along the coast because of salt water remaining from Hurricane Ike.
[View the Full Article]

FARGO FORUM: Forum editorial: No need to reopen farm bill
Congress should not reopen the 2008 farm bill simply because President Barack Obama wants to put a subsidy cap on big farmers. One idea tossed out was ending direct payments to farmers with annual incomes of $500,000 or more. The president mentioned caps in his address to Congress last week, raising eyebrows among farmers, agribusiness organizations and farm-state senators.
[View the Full Article]

DELTA FARM PRESS: Farmers air concerns about farm bill
Farmers at a mid-February hearing told U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana and Mike Strain, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, that large areas of cropland may not be planted this year along the coast because of salt water remaining from Hurricane Ike.
They voiced their concerns at a Farm Day Forum held by Boustany in Abbeville, La. More than 100 people attended.
[View the Full Article]

Indiana FSA holds Farm Bill training
For the past two days, Nov. 17-18, over 300 Farm Service Agency (FSA) staff from across the state has been in Indianapolis for a Farm Bill training session. State Executive Director Kenny Culp tells Brownfield that while not all of the regulations have been finalized the training is still important.
[View the Full Article]

Farm Bill is huge with some sweeping changes
The 2008 Farm Bill is huge, and the over 350 farms in Franklin County should take note of some of the provisions that may directly or indirectly affect them even if they aren't participating in any of the current programs.
[View the Full Article]

Economic recovery begins with back-to-basics in rural America
Here in Texas, in small-town America, we still believe in the American dream, and in the importance of teaching young people what it means. The American dream means opportunity rather than just a handout expecting freebies. For all the concern about the economy, perhaps we should begin with the basics.
[View the Full Article]

Rural cooperatives evolve with changing times, support communities
Born during the end of the Great Depression, Beth Bergum has seen a lifetime of changes in the face of rural America as it evolved from homesteads to communities with modern amenities provided by area cooperatives. A farmer's wife and retired school clerk of Winifred, Mont., Bergum remembers what life was like without running water, telephones and electricity.
[View the Full Article]

Presidential candidates want your vote
Lights, camera, action! It's rural America's time to shine.
This year's campaign for president of the United States is down to the wire. Yet, in this busy time for the candidates, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have taken the time to respond to a Farm Bureau survey on where they stand on important agricultural issues.
[View the Full Article]

Defining Rural America
You probably never knew Calvin Beale, but chances are he knew all about where you came from. He was a demographer for the United States Department of Agriculture. And when he died earlier this month at age 85, we lost an unmatched, encyclopedic understanding of rural America.
[View the Full Article]

Senator Tester visits Great Falls to promote farm bill
Senator Jon Tester was in Great Falls speaking with farmers and ranchers about the new farm bill and stumping for Democrat presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.
[View the Full Article]

Biofuels cited as part of energy security solution
Biofuels must be part of the solution to attaining energy security and in reducing potential for global climate change, says USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, Gale Buchanan.
[View the Full Article]

Rural America awakens like a bear
All of sudden the masses are energized and others seem to be amazed. I have been reluctant to write about political candidates because it seems as though most media outlets can't find anything better to talk about; but this is one I just cannot let pass. Sarah Palin, from small town Alaska, has wound up the nation and not just part of it. I am talking about most all of the nation.
[View the Full Article]

Protect ag opportunity to invest in rural America
In July, a group of eight families purchased a 4-H steer paying way above market price for the animal and donated the harvested animal to four families grieving the loss of their sons, lost to a tragic automobile accident just days before the local fair. In August, a group of family farmers took a day off from harvesting their own crop to harvest the crop of a neighbor, whose family also suffered a tragedy when their son fell into a coma after an ATV accident.
[View the Full Article]

Farm bill benefits sheep industry
Through collaborative work on the local, state and national levels, the sheep industry received favorable results when the 2008 Farm Bill was enacted in May, said Glen Fisher, vice president of the American Sheep Industry Association. Fisher, a Sutton County rancher, told producers attending the 93rd annual Texas Sheep & Goat Raisers' Association convention there are several programs in the new farm policy that producers nationwide can use in their operations.
[View the Full Article]

Farm Bill contains farmer disaster relief opportunities
New in the 2008 Farm Bill is the creation of permanent disaster relief programs. In the past whenever a widespread natural disaster occurred, producers had to wait for Congress to vote on implementing a disaster relief program. Not so anymore. “A few key members of Congress pushed hard and were successful in including permanent disaster assistance programs in the 2008 Farm Bill,” says Dr. Henry English, director of the Small Farm Program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The most recent disaster bills had a difficult time getting through Congress, as the president insisted on budget offsets to pay for the program.
[View the Full Article]

Many good aspects to Farm Bill
RECENTLY, THE U.S. Congress passed the Farm Bill, which also renews the increased tax incentive for donations of conservation easements that expired Dec. 31, 2007. By a vote of 81-15 in the Senate and 318-106 in the House, a two-year extension of the enhanced incentive for conservation easements was approved in the new Farm Bill. The extension is retroactive to the beginning of this year.
[View the Full Article]

Legislators discuss farm bill in first of town hall meetings
U.S. Rep. Zack Space kept up a busy recess schedule Tuesday by hosting the first of three town hall meetings throughout the 18th Congressional District. Space, D-Dover, brought Rep. Collin Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, to give an update on the latest legislative information on agriculture and the farm bill at the Ohio University-Zanesville/ Zane State College Campus Center.
[View the Full Article]

Maine food pantries say they're seeing a steep increase in demand this year.
But they'll be helped by the recently passed farm bill that provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional food for the needy. That's according to Randy Mraz, who is director of the state's emergency food assistance program. Mraz said Maine in 2007 got about $350,000 in food allocations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's emergency food assistance program. Because of provisions in this year's farm bill, he says Maine will get about $640,000 worth of food from the program in fiscal 2008, which ends Sept. 30. He said the bill also allocated an additional $211,000 for the first half of 2009.
[View the Full Article]

Harkin aides talk Farm Bill
A lot of people think the Farm Bill is just for farmers, as an aide to Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said Wednesday evening. Wrong.
In fact, 68 percent of the $300 billion Farm Bill of 2008 is going toward nutrition programs for people all over the country, both rural and urban, from youngsters to seniors.
[View the Full Article]

Salazar says Farm Bill benefits Valley
U.S. Senator Ken Salazar is pleased with the 2008 Farm Bill, but says its provisions must be used. "The only way the farm bill will work is if those who are interested know what's available," said Salazar. Salazar celebrated food security and other issues addressed by the 2008 Farm Bill during his stop at the Monte Vista Co-op last week on his "Putting the Farm Bill to Work Tour."
[View the Full Article]

NRCS official says conservation wins big in 2008 Farm Bill
The 2008 Farm Bill is a piece of legislation that was difficult to work into law, but ultimately it will prove to be a great benefit to agriculture in general and conservation specifically.
[View the Full Article]

Young farmers face tough issues
Growers urged to tell their side of the story
Farmers across the Mississippi Delta and America are in the midst of a unique time. While they say they are generally receiving high prices for their products, input costs across the board -- fuel, fertilizer and seed to name a few -- have reportedly doubled and even tripled from this time last year.
[View the Full Article]

Newest federal farm bill takes effect
Virginia farmers and their counterparts nationwide began signing up late last month for programs that under the new federal farm policy will deliver some certainty for the 2008 crop year. Congress overrode President Bush's second veto of the farm bill, formally titled the Food, Conservation and Energy Act, in June. The legislation was finalized after more than one extension of the deadline.
[View the Full Article]

Aggie Bond Boost for Starter Farmer Loans
The recent authorization of the 2008 Farm Bill included changes in the Aggie Bond program that will make Missouri's Beginning Farmer Loan Program more beneficial to agricultural producers wishing to make their first major farmland purchase. The Farm Bill has increased the maximum amount available to beginning farmers through the Beginning Farmer Loan Program to $450,000. The program is designed to encourage lenders to offer lower interest rate financing to those starting a career in production agriculture.
[View the Full Article]

State expects farm bill aid
The 2008 farm bill, which survived a clerical error and two presidential vetoes before becoming law, is expected to significantly benefit California farmers by spending billions on specialty crops.
[View the Full Article]

Bill offers funds for Chesapeake Bay effort
The new federal farm bill promises a bumper crop of subsidies for farmers in Virginia and five other states to keep water pollution out of the Chesapeake Bay.
[View the Full Article]

U.S. farm bill includes money for Florida
The U.S. government's farm program conjures up images of corn, wheat and subsidies for Midwestern farmers. But the new version that recently became law looks like a "growth" opportunity to Florida farmers.
[View the Full Article]

UDC Reaps a Bumper Crop From Agriculture Measure
The giant federal farm bill passed by Congress this week will help Iowa corn growers. It will help Kansas wheat barons. It also will help James Allen, who dreams of bringing pigweed to the back yards of Washington, D.C. "It's like collard greens," said Allen, lifting a leafy potted plant. "Very high in Vitamin A."
[View the Full Article]

Farm Commodities: Idaho’s bread and butter
Hummus, a dip made from cooked pureed chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice and salt, has become a popular deli item in many grocery stores. East Indian food and restaurants have grown in popularity as well, and two main ingredients used in these dishes are lentils and chickpeas.
[View the Full Article]

Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Farm bill will make a huge difference this year
As a young kid on the farm, I remember after one particularly heavy rainfall my grandfather, gazing at the under-water cornfield in our low-lying land, sadly proclaiming in broken Swiss-German: "Kein korn heuer."
[View the Full Article]

Farmers the real flood victims
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar visited flood-prone areas of Austin Saturday afternoon, as well as the Steve Kraushaar farm in Freeborn County, where the farmer claims he has lost between 8 and 10 percent of his crop. As we assess the aftermath of this year’s flood, some are thankful for the residences and business who were spared, largely because of mitigation efforts; others have expressed frustration as they again bail out their basements. But the real victims of the flood were local farmers: according to estimates, about 10 percent of the corn crop nationwide will be lost due to flooding.
[View the Full Article]

Farm bill benefits significant
While various parts of the Farm Bill have been drawing praise and others criticism, one thing is for sure: the Nutrition Title of the bill is critical to ending childhood hunger and must be followed up with equally strong provisions in the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization.
[View the Full Article]

U.S. rice supply is fine; let’s keep it that way
Near panic ensued for almost two weeks as intense media attention about a global rice shortage and the decision by some Sam’s Club and Costco stores to limit rice purchases for their customers caused shoppers in some areas in the United States to clear the shelves of rice. American consumers have no cause for alarm.
[View the Full Article]

WTO’s Lamy laments ‘bad’ farm bill
Pascal Lamy, the World Trade Organization director-general, says the U.S. Congress passed a bad farm bill, one that sends the wrong “signal.” If the authors of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 needed any affirmation of their work, they don’t have to look any farther.

Lamy, who long ago demonstrated his preference for protecting Europe’s farmers at the expense of the rest of the world, told European Parliament members the farm bill is sending a signal U.S. government leaders are “not serious about reducing their subsidies.”
[View the Full Article]

Overall, farm bill worthy of support
Folks, the farm bill passed recently. Actually, it passed twice. And it will have to pass two more times. Then you must double this because both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House must each pass it again and again.
If this sounds confusing, well, it is. First, the House and Senate both passed the bill and then the administration vetoed it and then the House and Senate overrode the veto. However, there was a major portion of the bill left out. So, we need a "do-over" of all the above.
[View the Full Article]

Levin: New law will help nation's farmers, hurt speculators
With the summer harvest season right around the corner, and roadside produce stands popping up at country intersections across the state, the end of spring is a mouth-watering time to think about Michigan agriculture.
When, after months of delays, Congress recently passed the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the Farm Bill, the season was appropriate. This critical legislation -- passed over a presidential veto -- will offer a boost to the Michigan farmers who sell their produce locally and who send Michigan-grown agriculture across the country.
[View the Full Article]

Farm bill offers big boost for biomass ethanol
As gas and other oil-based energy costs rise, so do the calls for domestically produced bio-based products. And, in case you missed it, a new farm bill that passed both chambers of the Congress boosts congressional funding for bioenergy programs through 2012.
The new bill includes incentives for a new generation of cellulosic ethanol derived from biomass sources such as wood chips, crop residues and other sources of cellulose that comprises plants.
[View the Full Article]

Farm bill delivers more food for state's needy
Dozens of Wisconsin anti-hunger groups will receive more federal food donations under the recently passed farm bill.
That’s welcome news to Mike Bonertz, executive director of ADVOCAP in Fond du Lac County, and Kathy McMurray, who oversees community services at NEWCAP in Oconto County. Their organizations distribute the food to local pantries, shelters and other agencies that distribute groceries or serve meals.
“It’s extremely important because so many families are in need,” McMurray said.
[View the Full Article]

Farm act renews land conservation tax breaks
The Foothills Land Conservancy got a boost with the enactment of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008. The legislation, commonly called the federal farm bill, extends income tax incentives through 2009 to landowners who agree to grant conservation easements.
It will do wonders, said Bill Clabough, executive director of the Foothills Land Conservancy. There's no question that last year, when we were so busy, it had an impact. The tax breaks are an economic lure to landowners seeking to preserve the scenic, natural and historic values of their land.
[View the Full Article]

Farm Bill Likely to Help State’s Dairy Farmers
The $300 billion federal farm bill has its share of detractors — namely President George W. Bush — but Connecticut farmers and agriculture officials have no such qualms. A bipartisan Senate recently overrode Bush’s veto of the sweeping legislation that some had argued was too generous to wealthy corporate farmers and was fiscally irresponsible. Those complaints are muted in Connecticut.
[View the Full Article]

Letter: Walz praised for Farm Bill work
It is the conventional wisdom that nothing good can come out of Washington. Recently, 318 U.S. representatives, including our own Tim Walz, proved that wrong. An overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Congress voted for the new Farm Bill. The bill includes important reforms including: a permanent disaster assistance program that will be budgeted for rather than adding to the debt, increases in nutrition programs and assistance to food banks, funding for renewable energy, mandatory implementation of country of origin food labels, inclusion of fruit and vegetable growers in the program, income eligibility caps and needed conservation stewardship.
[View the Full Article]

Farm bill provides safety net for everyone
The farm bill is a safety net for farmers that helps our country maintain our ability to produce food and fuel. When commodity prices are high, most of our farm program payments are reduced or eliminated. From 2000-2005, however, the market price for corn and soybeans was below most farmers' cost of production. The only reason many farmers in Indiana were able to stay in business during these tough times was through the support of our farm programs.
[View the Full Article]

Farmers, officials giving bill positive marks
Embracing fruit and vegetable farmers for the first time and supporting low-income Americans struggling with increasing food costs, the 2008 farm bill passed last week is garnering positive, if cautious, reviews from Licking County farmers and officials.
[View the Full Article]

Farmers lobby in favor of Farm Bill proposal
Farmers are burning up the wires to Washington to push for passage of the latest Farm Bill proposal. The leaderships of the Texas Farm Bureau and the National Cotton Council of America are mounting an e-mail and a phone campaign by growers and other agribusiness folks to Congress members, urging them to vote in favor of the Farm Bill, which will be considered on Wednesday.
[View the Full Article]

Higher prices, rising risk
Corn prices were hovering around record highs Friday morning, and farmer Terry Sestak of Tabor was thinking about signing a contract with his local grain elevator to sell some of his crop and lock in a good price.
That way, if prices tank this summer, Sestak will be assured that he'll get the higher price for at least some of his harvest this fall. But if the price jumps above $6 a bushel, Sestak won't get as much money as he would if he had waited. During the past year, corn prices have gone up 66 percent, while soybean prices have gone up 83 percent. Wheat prices have nearly doubled.
[View the Full Article]

S.D. farmers wonder how long good times will last
Keith Alverson heads into 2008 looking at robust prices for the corn and soybeans he grows with his father and uncle near Chester.
Two dollars for a bushel of corn - the benchmark price for years - seems like a quaint artifact from a bygone era. The value of crops common in the Upper Midwest - corn, soybeans, wheat - have doubled and tripled from those old standards.
[View the Full Article]

In defense of American Farmers
The American farmer: salt of the earth, backbone of the nation, foundation of democracy -- and Public Enemy No. 1.
If you think that last description is out of place, you haven't been paying attention to the clamor over who's to blame for global warming and world food shortages. The American farmer -- and agricultural states such as Wisconsin -- are now the chief targets of some organizations searching for scapegoats.
[View the Full Article]

Heartburn in the Heartland
Comments of Bart Chilton, Commissioner CFTC
Every year, family farmers and ranchers face more risks than most other professions face in a lifetime. Myriad forces completely beyond the control of producers are an ever-present fact of life: droughts, hurricanes, or other weather-related natural disasters; commodity gluts created by foreign nations who excessively subsidize their exports; unfair competition from abroad by producers who don’t have our high (and costly) labor and environmental standards; and rising fuel, fertilizer, and other input costs. The deck is stacked against family farmers and ranchers; their declining numbers give ample evidence of this. They have, however, an inspirational, entrepreneurial attitude—hoping for the best in the face of uncertainty and never-ending labor—that dates back to the founding of our nation. Each year, with their undying spirit, hope and imagination of a better future, those that can return to the fields and pastures do so to try once more. This cycle of hope, ingenuity, and hard work represents the quintessential American farmer and rancher.
[View the Full Article]

Texas A&M Economist Says "Safety Net" Crucial Element in Farm Bill
A "2008" Farm Bill…long, long ago called a 2007 Farm Bill is still doable. Just got to find the money.
Dr. Joe L. Outlaw, Texas AgriLife Extension economist, has crunched a lot of numbers on many farm bills, and after more trips to Washington, D.C., than he can count regarding this latest one, you can see his frustration that there isn't a new farm law…yet. But it is still possible.
But that's only if the U.S. Congress can get down to real business after its two-week Spring Break, as lawmakers finally return to work the week of March 31.
[View the Full Article]

Calving season underway at the Ulmer farm
Although the snow had completely disappeared in the Fullerton area with the mid-March warm temperatures, the landscape was again given a white coating by a heavy, wet snow that started on the evening of March 20.
“You know it's going to snow, the cows have started to calve,” quipped Gary Ulmer, as he commented on the change in weather.
[View the Full Article]

This is one bill that’s ‘past due’
It was set to expire six months ago, but the 2002 farm bill is still law. Earlier this month Congress voted to extend the bill for a second time through April 18, following months of disagreements on the shape of a new bill. After failing to approve a new version of the farm bill in 2007, Congress extended the expiration for the 2002 bill from September until March 15.
[View the Full Article]

Delayed Farm Bill Leaves Alabama Farmers Idle
In the nation's capital both houses of Congress have forced Alabama farmers to sit idle while lawmakers hammer out the new 5-year farm policy. The farm bill is the farmer's bible, a set of guidelines that gives growers an idea what they should plant, how much and the kind of prices they can expect for their crops.
[View the Full Article]

Farmers waiting for ‘other shoe to drop’ on commodity prices
In the 30 years he’s been farming, John Thaemert says there have been three years when he felt as optimistic about the wheat outlook as he does in 2008.
Two days before Thaemert, the president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, said that, nearby spring wheat futures briefly touched an astounding $25 a bushel on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.
[View the Full Article]

Guest Opinion: The time is past due for Congress to get this Farm Bill done
Politics is never an easy game. Those directly involved know that to get something accomplished in Washington you need to roll up your sleeves and settle in for the long haul. In light of this, farmers appreciate the effort the House went to early last year to pass it’s version of the farm bill. The Senate, in the 12th hour, also passed a bill. But we are now moving into the New Year and the farm bill is still not complete.
[View the Full Article]

Farm Bill Top Topic at Sugarbeet Convention
Sugarbeet farmers are meeting in Orlando, Fla., this week at their annual convention and the talk of the pending Farm Bill is taking top billing.

"There is not a single issue that's more important to sugar farmers than the swift approval of a new Farm Bill," says Steve Williams, a Fisher, Minn., farmer and president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association (ASGA). "The farmers I've spoken to over the past few weeks are growing increasingly frustrated that finalizing the Farm Bill has stalled, even though both bills passed by the House and Senate have won accolades from nearly everyone."
[View the Full Article]

New farm bill worthy of support
Our hard work has paid off, and the finish line is in sight. After months of difficult negotiations, the U.S. Senate in December overwhelmingly passed a new farm bill, 79-14.
[View the Full Article]

Montana senators praise $286 billion Farm Bill
Montana senators praised the $286 billion farm bill passed by the Senate Friday, saying it is good for the state. The bill includes many provisions that will benefit farmers in the High Plains.
[View the Full Article]

Isakson Praises Passage of Farm Bill
U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today praised the Senate’s passage of a new five-year Farm Bill that continues to provide a safety net for farmers, increases conservation programs, provides incentives for renewable energy production and establishes a permanent disaster program.
[View the Full Article]

Farm Bill Expanding Ag Industry's Marketing
Northwest farmers and ranchers are one step closer to receiving some extra help from the Feds. The 2007 farm bill is focusing on small crop growers. It will mean $2 million in new prorams with fruit and vegetables and expanding marketing for the agriculture industry. Mark Barrett of Barrett Orchards says, It is good to the point that at least when we do have needs and some of our needs are helping us market our crops better, then we're getting recognized."
[View the Full Article]

Gov. Rounds Calls for Farm Bill Action
The 2007 Farm Bill negotiations must continue to move forward, and a 2007 Farm Bill should be passed this year, urges Gov. Mike Rounds.
[View the Full Article]

New farm bill should be Congress' top priority
PEOPLE ON THE South Plains have no trouble seeing how important farmers are to our nation, but it seems like too many people in other parts of the country just don't get it. Unfortunately, some of them are members of Congress.
[View the Full Article]

Senators Blast National Media on Farm Bill
Some of the non-stop criticism of farmers and farm programs by media outlets in recent years might be a little easier to take if the tone wasn’t so condescending.
[View the Full Article]

Permanent AG disaster needs to be part of 2007 Farm Bill
Congress is on the verge of passing the first farm legislation ever that contains a permanent AG disaster provision and it's action that has been long overdue.
[View the Full Article]

Farm Bill Will Help Us Move To A "Clean Energy Economy"
The ingenuity of rural America is the great untapped resource in our move to a clean energy economy," said Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colo) as the second day of floor debate on the 2007 Farm Bill continued in the Senate Tuesday.
[View the Full Article]

Farm proposal would aid Washington farmers, say senators
U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both D-Wash., say they applaud the 2007 Farm Bill approved Thursday by the Senate agriculture committee.
[View the Full Article]

Texas is depending on a strong farm bill
This fall, as Texans turn their attention to Friday night football, we would be wise to set our sights on work in Washington that stands to impact another Texas tradition--agriculture. Leaders in Washington are fast at work on a big piece of legislation with even bigger impact on our state and one of its strongest industry sectors.
[View the Full Article]

Murphy: Five Minutes With Bob Stallman, American Farm Bureau Federation President
Few farm leaders strike a stronger stance or cut a bigger profile on agricultural issues than Bob Stallman, AFBF president. Though bullish on the pending 2007 farm bill, he cautions that some big challenges still face the nation’s farm community.
[View the Full Article]

Farm bill a "heck of a deal" for consumers
The United States has an excellent system of independent family farmers. Survival of the family farm is critical to the future economic viability of rural America, and across the nation, strong family farms mean food safety and security, at a low cost to consumers.
[View the Full Article]

Farm bill's effects ripple through region
RAlthough it's referred to as the farm bill, the $614 billion Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007 that passed the House last week will affect more than just the agricultural industry.
[View the Full Article]

Ag leaders give Conrad feedback on new farm bill
Farmers, ranchers and agriculture leaders joined U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad and North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson today (Aug. 9) for a hearing on new national farm legislation now in the Congress
[View the Full Article]

Sugar program faces threat
Proposed legislation to abolish the U.S. sugar program would hurt the nation and the Red River Valley, sugar industry leaders say.
[View the Full Article]

Romney views changed on USDA, farm subsidies
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney says he no longer advocates the "virtual elimination" of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[View the Full Article]

Will AGI Rule Foul U.S. Ag?
How the Proposed AGI Rule Fouls American Farm and Ranch Families. The current AGI rule has been dubbed the "Scotty Pippen Rule" because it is designed to prevent extremely wealthy, non farmers, such as professional basketball players, entertainers, and media moguls, from receiving benefits under U.S. farm policy.
[View the Full Article]

Retain Farm Bill Direct Payments
The 2007 Farm Bill has taken center stage in Congress. Central to the Farm Bill debate is providing a farm safety net that will provide the United States with the food security it deserves.
[View the Full Article]

Washington experts should get outside the Beltway
It must be fun to sit in an office in Washington and dream up zingers like “Milking the Customers: The High Cost of U.S. Dairy Policies,” or “Ripe for Reform: Six Good Reasons to Reduce U.S. Farm Subsidies and Trade Barriers.”
[View the Full Article]

Farm Bureau leaders travel to Washington, D.C.
Leaders of the Hunt County Farm Bureau trekked to the nation's capital in late March to confer with congressional representatives and officials in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[View the Full Article]

The government is forcing us to eat junk food and get fat
Poor people in America are fat? Do you realize what a strange statement it is for a country to have a major obesity problem among its poorest citizens?
[View the Full Article]

More than meets the eye in farm bill debate, K-State's Flinchbaugh says
Barry Flinchbaugh leaves little doubt where his loyalties lie when the wizened "gnome of Manhattan" gives one of his two-hour tours de force on the past, present and future of U.S. farm policy.
[View the Full Article]

Analyst Comments on Newspaper's Focus on U.S. Farm Programs, Spending
Editor's note: The following is a guest commentator column written by Jeff Harrison, who served on Capitol Hill for 13 years, in both the House and Senate, most recently as counsel to then House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-Texas) and as Legislative Director to U.S. Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).He is currently part of Combest & Sell consulting group.
[View the Full Article]

Two views of new farm bill
The 2007 Farm Bill will focus on renewable energy, but any similarities to the current legislation are yet to be determined, two key figures in the debate over the legislation said this week.
[View the Full Article]

Washington Post Farm Policy Stories:
A Case Study in Urban Legend: Part 1
The Washington Post (the Post) Stories Are Cynical, Misleading, Inaccurate, Contradictory, Misplaced, and the Product of Ulterior Motives.
[View the Full Article]

Washington Post Farm Policy Stories:
A Case Study in Urban Legend: Part 2
The Post's Problem with Direct Payments Is In Conflict with Its Problem with LDPs and Its Views on Conservation and the WTO.
[View the Full Article]

Washington Post Farm Policy Stories:
A Case Study in Urban Legend: Part 3
The Post's Problem with LDPs Is in Conflict with Its Views on Direct Payments and Boils Down to Nothing More Than Opposition to Any U.S. Farm Policy.
[View the Full Article]

Washington Post Farm Policy Stories:
A Case Study in Urban Legend: Part 4
U.S. Farm Policy Is About Providing America with the Safest, Most Abundant, Most Affordable Food Supply in the World And About U.S. Jobs, Economic Growth, and Global Competitiveness.
[View the Full Article]