New Farm Bill Update – Part II 

By Kent Thiesse

As Congress works to complete the passage of a new farm bill, producers have raised some questions regarding process and provisions in a potential new farm bill, and what effect it might have on their farming operations in 2008...

Call For Farm Bill Conference 

The leaders of the House Agriculture Committee, in an “open letter to the farm bill community,” dated Feb. 9, said the U.S. farm bill process was at a “critical” point...

Kansas State University Researchers Move One Step Closer to Curbing Pests’ Appetite For Crops 

Source: Kansas State University

Scientists at Kansas State University (K-State) have discovered that the salivary glands of a tiny insect may hold a key to developing pest resistance in plants...

Small Crop Inventories Point to the Need for Large Crops in 2008 

Source: University of Illinois Extension

The USDA’s February report of U.S. and world crop supply and consumption prospects underscores the need for large crops in 2008...

USDA Seen Cutting Stocks Estimates 

USDA is expected to make further small cuts to its estimates of U.S. ending stocks for corn, soybeans and wheat due to continued strong demand when it releases its monthly supply/demand update on Friday...

New Farm Bill Update 

By Kent Thiesse

As Congress works to complete the passage of a new farm bill, producers have raised some questions regarding process and provisions in a potential new farm bill, and what effect it might have on their farming operations in 2008...

Food Vs. Fuel 

By Dr. Dave Kohl

The old Buffalo Springfield band had a song with lyrics that are very appropriate for the potential war between food and fuel, “There’s somethin’ happenin’ here/What it is ain’t exactly clear/There’s battle lines being drawn…” In this case, it is not the Vietnam era...

NCGA Hopeful Progress Will Be Made On the Farm Bill 

Source: National Corn Growers Association

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is pleased that members of the Senate Agriculture Committee named farm bill conferees. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) will chair the conference committee. The House has not yet named their conferees...

Survey Finds Farmers Becoming More Sustainable 

Source: National Corn Growers Association

Farmers are adopting best management practices in record numbers, according to a survey just released by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI)...

CRP and Crop Insurance 

By Kent Thiesse

No early-out for CRP in 2008: Recently, acting USDA Secretary Chuck Conner reconfirmed that no early-out option for existing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts is planned for the 2008 crop year. He stated that “CRP is not an acreage reserve program” to be accessed when...

USDA Names New Secretary of Ag 

Source: USDA

Ed Schafer was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Jan. 28, 2008. Secretary Schafer brings a record as an innovative two-term governor of North Dakota to USDA along with extensive private-sector experience as both an entrepreneur and a business executive. Schafer served as North Dakota's governor from...

Infrastructure Not Ready For All The Ethanol To Be Produced In 2008  

Source: Purdue University

By the end of 2008, the U.S. will have the capacity to produce 13 billion gallons of ethanol, but Purdue University Extension Agricultural Economist Wally Tyner says the maximum ethanol the market can handle is 12 billion gallons, and perhaps considerably less...

Women in Ag Conference Feb. 21-22 in Kearney, NE 

Source: University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Networking, leadership opportunities, workshops and even "funshops" will empower women during the annual Women in Agriculture Conference Feb. 21-22 at the Kearney, NE, Holiday Inn...

Farm programs may revert to permanent law  

By Forrest Laws, Farm Press Editorial Staff

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) says Congress may be forced to allow farm programs to revert to “permanent” law if the Bush administration remains unwilling to forge a compromise on the 2008 Farm Bill...

Does It Feel Like The 1970s? 

By Kent Thiesse

The last half of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 have drawn many to make comparisons with agricultural economy that existed in the 1970s, with record grain prices, high farm profits and rapid increases in land values. Here are some things to consider...