Farm lobby pushes for new farm bill in early 2024
Farm groups called for Congress on Thursday to overcome a months-long impasse and enact a new farm bill early next year. President Biden was expected to sign legislation that extends current farm law until next Sept. 30 but the farm groups want to keep the pressure on for prompt action.
Nutrition programs should be in farm bill, Duvall says
The nation’s largest farm group wants public nutrition programs to be part of the upcoming farm bill, as they have been for decades. “It should be called the food and farm bill,” president Zippy Duvall of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) told FERN’s Ag Insider in an interview Tuesday. …
Ag groups argue over cost of Thanksgiving dinner
Turkey farmers and processors yelped over a farm group survey on Wednesday that said high turkey prices were driving up the cost of a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner. “Turkeys and good deals are available!” said the National Turkey Federation in one of the few times the American Farm Bureau Federation has been challenged on its spot checks of holiday grocery prices.
‘Time to consider improvements’ in milk marketing system, say farm groups
The first update to the federal milk marketing system in nearly a quarter-century "should improve price discovery, improve the clarity of the program, continue to support timely payments to producers and reduce price incentives to de-pool milk," said a dozen U.S. farm groups on Monday. The groups said they believed the USDA would call a hearing in 2023 to address price formulas used in the marketing system.
Farm Bureau seeks ‘unified’ farm bill of agriculture and nutrition aid
The largest U.S. farm group believes “it makes perfect sense” to combine commodity supports and SNAP in the same piece of big-ticket legislation, said president Zippy Duvall in announcing the American Farm Bureau Federation’s farm bill priorities on Thursday. The AFBF called for higher subsidy rates, at a still-to-be-determined cost, and more emphasis of stewardship on working lands rather than long-term idling of cropland.
Farm Bureau urges members to turn ‘energy and passion’ against clean water rule
The president of the largest U.S. farm group called for members to bring the "same energy and devotion when it comes to WOTUS" that they used last year to preserve a tax break on inherited property. President Zippy Duvall said the American Farm Bureau Federation also influenced legislation and USDA programs on climate mitigation to ensure that they "respect farmers."
More adherents to voluntary climate mitigation
The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance said on Monday that 34 additional trade groups have joined the coalition of farm, environmental and food retail groups that endorses voluntary, incentive-based and market-driven action to mitigate climate change. President Zippy Duvall of the American …
Farm sector rebounding but may need more aid, says Duvall
The farm economy, battered since 2018 by a trade war and a pandemic, is rallying, though it is too early to declare a return to prosperity, said the president of the largest U.S. farm organization on Thursday, reserving judgment on whether more stopgap federal aid will be needed.
Farm labor reform is critical, say Land O’Lakes, AFBF leaders
U.S. farmers and ranchers face a labor shortage because “no one in America wants to do this kind of work anymore,” said the president of the largest U.S. farm group on Monday in calling for year-round agricultural guestworkers. “Immigration reform is absolutely critical,” agreed Beth Ford, …
Agriculture must be part of climate change negotiations, says Farm Bureau
Although blamed for 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture has a "great track record" through land stewardship and biofuels in mitigating climate change, says Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, in looking ahead to the Biden administration. "We must make sure we are at the table for discussions around climate change." (No paywall)
Agriculture’s meeting season will be mostly digital this winter
Farm groups, from local cooperatives to large national organizations, traditionally hold their annual meetings during the winter, when field work is at a minimum and a meeting in town mixes business with a social get-together. Many of the national meetings will be held online this time due to the pandemic.
AFBF chief is first U.S. farm group leader with coronavirus
Zippy Duvall, president of the largest U.S. farm group, is quarantining at his Georgia farm while recuperating from the coronavirus, said the American Farm Bureau Federation on Wednesday. Duvall is the first leader of a U.S. farm group known to have the virus. (No paywall)
Trump signs order to keep meat plants in operation during pandemic
While declaring there is plenty of meat in America, President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday “to ensure that meat and poultry processors continue operations” during the coronavirus pandemic, overriding state officials worried about hot spots for the virus. Cattle and hog …
Economic impact of coronavirus outweighs federal help, says U.S. farm group
Congress allotted $23.5 billion for agriculture in the coronavirus relief package, but "that amount of money will not sustain" the farm sector, said the president of the largest U.S. farm group. The sector will need "a whole lot more [money] than was in the CARES Act," said Zippy Duvall of the American Farm Bureau Federation.(No paywall)
Farm group supports higher THC limit for industrial hemp
The government should triple the level of THC permitted in industrial hemp, and give farmers three times as long to harvest a field after it is tested, said national convention delegates in voting on American Farm Bureau Federation policy on Tuesday. Both provisions are sore points with …
Farm Bureau backs ‘one farmer, one vote’ for dairy marketing rules
A task force created by the largest U.S. farm group called on Wednesday for more democracy in the federal milk-marketing orders that guide dairy sales throughout the United States and for greater equity between producers and processors in a system that dates from the Depression.
As U.S.-China talks resume, the biggest U.S. farm group asks for an end of trade war tariffs
The largest U.S. farm group urged trade negotiators “to write the next chapter” in Sino-U.S. relations this week by eliminating trade war tariffs that are depressing ag exports, an important part of farm income. On Monday, the USDA reported an uptick in soybean exports to China, but there was no sign of large “goodwill” purchases on the eve of negotiations in Shanghai.
Trump trade war: ‘We’re going to hang with him,’ says Farm Bureau chief
The Sino-U.S. trade war, which as stymied U.S. farm exports, "is going to be a long one, and we keep delivering the message, 'We're with you, Mr. President,'" said the leader of the largest U.S. farm group on Sunday, adding a caveat. "The runaway of our patience is going to be determined by the financial situation of our farms. We went into the battle very weak." (No paywall)
Administration optimistic on Canada, less so on China, say ag leaders
On Wednesday, three state Farm Bureau presidents told administration leaders, including President Trump, that farmers, hit hard by retaliatory tariffs, need open markets soon. “There’s a fairly short runway,” said South Dakota’s Scott VanderWal.