AG NEWS
Co-Alliance awards scholarships
Co-Alliance has awarded more than $20,000 to college bound students through the co-op’s scholarship program. The students who earned the Solutions Scholarship are all children or grandchildren of Co-Alliance members.
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"These students show tremendous potential. Their dedication and passion to lead shine through ...
Wine and Grape Month
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is recognizing the growth the state’s wine industry by proclaiming June, Indiana Wine and Grape Month.
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"We are honored that Governor Daniels recognizes the importance of the Indiana wine industry and its affect on the state's economy," said Jeanette Merritt, Marketing ...
Waxman-Markey needs a lot of work
Seems neither side of the House Agriculture Committee likes the climate change bill. Ag Committee Chair, Collin Peterson says the Democrats on his committee will not support the bill unless there are changes made for agriculture. The Ranking Member, Congressman Frank Lucas says the Ag Committee hearing on the Waxman-Markey ...
World Food Prize Winner a Purdue scientist
The World Food Prize has been awarded to a Purdue sorghum scientist. Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, who was raised in Ethiopia, was awarded for his work in improving sorghum yields and introducing the first sorghum hybrid in Africa. The National Sorghum Producers say those hybrids led to higher yielding grain sorghum ...
NACD weighs in on Climate Change bill
Earl Garber, Second VP and Legislative Committee Chair of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), from Basile, La., testified at the House Ag Committee hearing on Climate Change Thursday, June 11. Garber told the committee that USDA needs a leadership role in any climate legislation, and he ...
NPPC says food safety bill goes too far
The National Pork Producers Council says it has serious concerns about the food safety reform legislation approved this week (June 10) by a House subcommittee. The NPPC says among the concerns is the authority for the Food and Drug Administration to "conduct on-farm inspections, to quarantine geographic areas over food ...
Wisconsin Assembly still wrestling with budget plan
As of late Friday, the Wisconsin State Assembly caucuses were still working on changes to the budget reconciliation package from the Joint Finance Committee.
One of the provisions in the Joint Finance package which drew immediate fire was a plan to increase the filing fees for Wisconsin ...
32 herds quarantined in Nebraska
Nebraska officials have quarantined 32 herds in five northeastern counties for Bovine Tuberculosis. The quarantine affects about 15,000 cattle which may have come in contact with the two infected animals found in a Rock County herd last week. State Ag Director Greg Ibach told a group of producers at the ...
BIODIESEL
'Indirect land use change' debate continues in D.C.
The debate continues over so-called "indirect land use change" that may result from biofuels production.
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The EPA is holding a two-day workshop on the matter in Washington, D.C., a day after the agency’s official hearing on its proposed RFS2 rule. Dr. Mark Stowers (as ...
Nebraska Soybean Association critical of EPA's RFS2 rule
The Nebraska Soybean Association is critical of EPA’s interpretation of the Renewable Fuels Standard, saying it will dramatically reduce the opportunity to grow the soy biodiesel sector.
NSA president Debbie Borg of Allen says the EPA’s conclusions on indirect land use are flawed and ignore "real world" ...
Proposed EPA rules penalize ethanol, biodiesel
An Environmental Protection Administration hearing Tuesday on the proposed rulemaking for the Renewable Fuels Standard focused on the controversial theory called indirect land use change. Proponents of corn-based ethanol and soybean oil-based biodiesel say the proposed rules penalize those fuels for greenhouse gas emissions that result from land use ...
RFA: EPA overstepped mandate in considering indirect land use
The Renewable Fuels Association—RFA—says the EPA may have overstepped its mandate from Congress in making indirect land use changes part if its RFS rule-making process.
DTN quotes RFA president and CEO Bob Dineen as saying that while the statute requires EPA to look at direct land use ...
Scientists unite in support of biodiesel
An ongoing effort asking members of the scientific community to pledge their support for biodiesel is getting good results.
So far more than 80 scientists have gone online and added their names to the list of biodiesel supporters. Scientists who sign the petition are agreeing that ...
House Committee passes climate bill
On a 33-to-25 vote, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the climate change bill on Thursday. Although weakened by some compromises, the bill is still seen as a major reform in U.S. energy policy with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emission 17 percent by 2020 and ...
Ethanol fits right into the new automobile standards
President Barack Obama announced a new set of mileage and emissions standards for the automobile industry on Tuesday. Under the plan, light trucks must average 30 miles per gallon and cars 39 miles per gallon by the year 2016. There is some concern as to how that will work for ...
Missouri Corn Growers pleased with ethanol incentive action
Support for Missouri’s ethanol industry is bolstered by government action. And, Missouri Corn Growers’ Association executive director Gary Marshall tells Brownfield it all began with the state’s newly sworn-in governor,"When the governor, Governor Nixon, came out and said ‘Hey, I support fully funding the ethanol and biodiesel incentives’ in his ...
USDA/GOVERNMENT
Waxman-Markey needs a lot of work
Seems neither side of the House Agriculture Committee likes the climate change bill. Ag Committee Chair, Collin Peterson says the Democrats on his committee will not support the bill unless there are changes made for agriculture. The Ranking Member, Congressman Frank Lucas says the Ag Committee hearing on the Waxman-Markey ...
NACD weighs in on Climate Change bill
Earl Garber, Second VP and Legislative Committee Chair of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), from Basile, La., testified at the House Ag Committee hearing on Climate Change Thursday, June 11. Garber told the committee that USDA needs a leadership role in any climate legislation, and he ...
NPPC says food safety bill goes too far
The National Pork Producers Council says it has serious concerns about the food safety reform legislation approved this week (June 10) by a House subcommittee. The NPPC says among the concerns is the authority for the Food and Drug Administration to "conduct on-farm inspections, to quarantine geographic areas over food ...
Wisconsin Assembly still wrestling with budget plan
As of late Friday, the Wisconsin State Assembly caucuses were still working on changes to the budget reconciliation package from the Joint Finance Committee.
One of the provisions in the Joint Finance package which drew immediate fire was a plan to increase the filing fees for Wisconsin ...
Stimulus funds for watershed dams important, says NRCS
Federal stimulus money is helping move conservation programs forward in rural America – and one of the most significant – according to NRCS Chief David White, involves fixing up old watershed dams that were built in the mid-1940s, "Many of them were built with a 50-year design life and ...
South Carolina processor recalls meat on E. coli concern
A South Carolina processor is recalling about 75 pounds of fresh beef trim products that might be contaminated with E. coli. USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service says Snow Creek Meat Processing in Seneca, South Carolina produced the beef on June 2nd and it was distributed to retail stores in South ...
'Indirect land use change' debate continues in D.C.
The debate continues over so-called "indirect land use change" that may result from biofuels production.
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The EPA is holding a two-day workshop on the matter in Washington, D.C., a day after the agency’s official hearing on its proposed RFS2 rule. Dr. Mark Stowers (as ...
Missouri farm groups weigh in on NAIS listening sessions
One of Missouri’s farm group leaders got the chance to speak at the USDA listening session on National Animal ID in Jefferson City Tuesday. Missouri Farmers Union board chairman Richard Oswald, a northeast Missouri farmer, had his number drawn and was one of about 50 people who could speak on ...
MARKETS
Supply and demand numbers near expectations
USDA's supply and demand numbers didn't hold many surprises but one agricultural economist told Brownfield there is a story when you look at the balance sheets.
University of Illinois Extension Economist Darrel Good pointed to smaller feed use and average yield estimates for corn, an increase in ...
Weekly wheat inspections larger than expected
It was a mixed week for grain and oilseed export inspections. According to the USDA, wheat inspections for the week ending June 4 were larger than expected while soybeans were within estimates and corn was below pre-report projections.
2009/10 wheat inspections were reported at 17.454 million bushels, ...
Informa sees USDA raising wheat production estimate
Ahead of Wednesday's wheat production estimate, Informa Economics expects the USDA to raise its production estimate slightly.
Informa pegs the 2009 winter crop at 1.513 billion bushels, up 11 million from the USDA's May guess but down 355 million from 2008 because of smaller planted area. ...
DTN's Sanow sees tighter soybean stocks
Ahead of the upcoming USDA supply and demand report, analysts expect soybean stocks to continue to tighten. DTN grain analyst John Sanow tells Brownfield that tightness is because of the smaller than expected crop in Argentina and strong export demand and the supply could fall below 100 million bushels.
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Hearing set for Iowa grain dealer under temporary suspension
A Keystone, Iowa grain dealer and warehouse operator is under temporary license suspension. The Iowa Ag Department took the action this week against Keystone Mercantile Company. The department accuses the operator of having minimum finances to operate, failing to pay for purchased grain and not having sufficient quality grain on ...
Analysts expect slightly smaller wheat production estimate
USDA will be updating its wheat production estimate Wednesday with analysts expecting the Ag Department to lower its projections.
Ahead of the report, the average of all analysts' guesses for the total 2009 crop is 2.021 billion bushels, in a range of 1.993 billion to 2.055 ...
Weekly corn exports solid
It was a mixed week for grain and oilseed exports according to the USDA. Combined old and new crop sales of corn, soybean meal and wheat for the week ending May 28 were within pre-report estimates while soybeans and bean oil were below expectations, with ADM's Dan Zwicker calling soybean ...
Allendale expects USDA to lower the corn production estimate
Ahead of the upcoming USDA supply and demand update, McHenry, Illinois based analysts Allendale Inc. expect the Ag Department to lower its production and new crop ending stocks estimates for corn.
Allendale sees 2009/10 corn stocks at 1.015 billion bushels and production at 11.935 billion bushels because ...
