The U.S. catfish industry is displeased with the Obama fiscal 2014 budget, which calls for the abolishment of a yet-to-be-implemented USDA-FSIS catfish inspection regime....More
Two years ago, cotton industry leaders proposed a voluntary, shallow loss crop insurance product known as the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX)....More
Immigration reform continues to build momentum in Congress. As migrant workers are a vital component of the U.S. food and fiber sector, agricultural interests are keen to bend the coming legislation to their best advantage....More
An aging U.S. waterway infrastructure – which carries more than 60 percent of America’s grain and other commodity exports -- may be set to get a funding boost from Congress that will allow for more than a facelift....More
In response to the signing into law of the Continuing Resolution (CR) by President Barack Obama, the American Soybean Association (ASA) has examined the ramifications for soybean farmers contained in the measure....More
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is pleased to announce that farmers and ranchers will have the opportunity to enroll this year in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)....More
Mississippi’s produce growers can evaluate and comment on the new food safety regulations being proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during three upcoming workshops....More
House Agriculture Committee leaders reacted following the Tuesday (March 12) release of Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's fiscal year 2014 budget resolution....More
Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran has endorsed legislation that would provide relief to small farms from Environmental Protection Agency fuel storage requirements that are set to take effect in May....More
During a House Agriculture Committee hearing on Tuesday (March 5), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack continued to warn of the consequences of sequester-mandated government program cuts and to defend the responses from the White House and USDA....More
On Monday (March 4), a group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced H.R. 935, The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2013. The bill would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) to clarify Congressional intent and eliminate the requirement of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the use of pesticides already approved for use under FIFRA....More
On Thursday (Feb. 28), over 150 local and national organizations wrote to the full Congress urging support for a proposal to end direct farm subsidy payments and use a small portion of the savings to restore funding for critical farm bill programs that were left out of the fiscal cliff deal passed on December 31, 2012....More
On Monday (Feb. 25), House Agriculture Committee leaders responded to the recent release of a USDA report on the various definitions of “rural” used in programs administered by the agency....More
There’s a lot of uncertainty, right now,” says Randy Veach, east Arkansas producer and president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau. “The sequestration is looming and, while they aren’t sure, a lot of our delegation (to Congress) believes sequestration will take place. They’re all trying to position themselves in a way to do what’s best for agriculture in Arkansas."...More
In a Feb. 19 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the American Soybean Association (ASA) joined 11 other national farm groups in opposing disproportionate cuts to farm programs as part of the recently-introduced American Family Economic Protection Act advanced by Senate Democrats to avert cuts under the sequestration set to take effect March 1....More
U.S. Senators from Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have urged the Obama administration to enforce U.S. trade laws and protect American catfish growers from an increasing flood of low-cost Asian imports....More
The Farm Program Integrity Act would place hard cap on farm program payments and closes current loopholes to ensure payments go to working farmers....More
