Legislation introduced in the Senate on Thursday (Feb. 14), seeks to block an increase in the amount of ethanol that can be blended with gasoline....More
Attempting to keep automatic spending cuts from taking effect on March 1, Senate Democrats, with White House backing, have proposed an alternative to the sequester....More
On Wednesday (Feb. 6), Mississippi Rep. Gregg Harper and Utah Rep. Jim Matheson introduced a bill that takes on the EPA biofuels production mandate. It will be referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration....More
Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran has announced his support for legislation to reauthorize the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), which leverages federal funds with private resources to promote fish and wildlife conservation....More
America’s immigration system is broken. Too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers and there are 11 million people living in the shadows. Neither is good for the economy or the country....More
Legislation has been introduced to extend agriculture disaster assistance programs that expired at the end of the 2011 Fiscal Year and were not part of the nine-month farm bill extension....More
The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) has joined with seven other national agribusiness associations in commending Alabama Rep. Martha Roby for introducing new legislation that would reform the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)....More
After vowing to make a new, five-year farm bill a legislative priority in 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is being backed by farm state lawmakers and agricultural groups. On Tuesday (Jan. 22), Reid introduced the Senate-passed version of the farm bill as one of several privileged, top priority bills....More
Mid-South lawmakers have introduced legislation to prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) from unfairly penalizing farmers and sportsmen for rolling their fields during hunting season....More
The Senate’s passage of legislation normalizing trade between the U.S. and Russia on Thursday (Dec. 6) is being applauded by agriculture groups....More
The California statewide ballot initiative Proposition 37 that would have required food containing genetically modified (GMO) crops to be labeled was defeated by a 53 percent to 47 percent vote. Nearly every newspaper editorial board in the state came out against Prop 37, not on the grounds of the merit of labeling, but, rather, that the bill was poorly written....More
Numerous federal income tax regulations are scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2012, unless Congress acts. Several of these regulations will affect agricultural producers....More
“We’re going to have to educate some folks in the banking industry and financial sector on what these new government programs will and won’t do,” says Keith Coble, professor of agricultural economics at Mississippi State University....More
Certified Producer and Importer Organizations (CPOs and CIOs) will caucus this summer to nominate candidates for leadership positions within the Cotton Research & Promotion Program, including The Cotton Board....More
As the drought spreads and attention turns to worsening crop conditions in farm country, the nation’s crop insurers have reassured farmers that companies will have the money necessary to quickly pay out claims in 2012, even amid record payouts last year....More
The Senate on June 29 gave its final approval to Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, legislation to reauthorize federal surface transportation programs. The measure also includes national flood insurance reauthorization and student loan interest rate provisions....More
With a draft summary of the House farm bill expected to be released in early July, lobbyists and commodity advocates are jostling for position prior to the House Agriculture Committee’s July 11 markup. Will the House skew towards programs in the recently-passed Senate farm bill? Will the South find the House’s preferred agriculture policies palatable?...More
