PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — American agribusiness leaders need to promote free trade with the general public and understand that enforcement of trade laws is a key to increasing support for trade agreements, former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told the International Dairy Foods Association here this week. Read More...

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. said in a news release today that in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday she urged her colleagues to vote for the farm bill. She also noted that finishing the farm bill was one of the reasons she ran for the Senate. Read More...

AGree, the foundation-funded ag think tank, said today that the new farm bill has “important achievements” but “falls short in terms of helping farmers prepare for the fundamental long-term food and agriculture challenges posed by resource scarcity, population growth, climate change, invasive pests, pathogens and diseases.” Read More...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced today that the Senate will vote on the farm bill conference report next week. Read More...

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, announced today that he would oppose the farm bill conference report. Grassley has expressed disappointment that the payment limitation provisions in the bill are not as strict as he advocated, but previously said he was undecided about how he would vote. Read More...

In a move that could be of great interest to agricultural employers and farmworkers, the House Republicans plan to consider a program to give current undocumented workers legal status but no special route to citizenship, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Read More...

The Agriculture Department’s Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, which will be held February 20-21 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va., will feature U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman as its dinner speaker. Read More...

Why did the House of Representatives finally pass the farm bill today? What finally garnered the votes? House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and House Agriculture ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., for the most part agreed on what happened. Both shared their views on the floor and with reporters after the vote. Read More...

The Senate is likely to take up the farm bill on Thursday, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told reporters today after the House voted to pass the bill. Read More...

In interviews after the House passed the farm bill today, House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., gave the impression that he is more likely to run for re-election than not. Read More...

The House has passed the farm bill — the Agricultural Act of 2014 — with a vote of 251 to 166.
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The House began debate on the farm bill conference report at about 9:20 a.m. today. The debate is expected to last one hour. Read More...

President Barack Obama did not ignore rural America in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. In his opening remarks, as he cited examples of “citizens who make the state of our union strong,” Obama included “a farmer prepared for the spring after the strongest five-year stretch of farm exports in our history.” Read More...

House and Senate aides late Tuesday pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office had said the Agricultural Act of 2014 will cost $956.4 billion over 10 years, but save $23 billion over 10 years if the budget savings under the sequester are included. Read More...

The National Milk Producers Federation on Tuesday released an explanation of how the new dairy program in the farm bill would work.
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The House is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. today and the one-hour debate over the farm bill conference report is scheduled to begin about 9:15 a.m. Read More...

The National Cotton Council and a range of other groups today called for swift passage of the farm bill, while Heritage Action urged conservatives to vote against it, saying that it would “key vote" in its analysis of members’ records. Read More...

The Congressional Budget Office has released the score of the farm bill. Read More...

The House of Representatives today passed a rule to allow debate on the farm bill conference report on Wednesday. Read More...

The House is expected to vote today on a rule on the farm bill conference report and an unrelated abortion measure that would be an indication of how the farm bill will fare in a vote on the actual bill Wednesday. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., may be on the verge of victory in the farm bill, but an Oklahoma rancher announced Monday that he will run against Lucas in the Republican primary, saying Lucas is too liberal for his district, The Oklahoma Farm Report, a radio program, has reported.
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In a joint telephone news conference today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., predicted that the farm will pass both the House and Senate and that President Barack Obama will sign the bill. Read More...

The farm bill conference report makes changes to the cotton program and the export guarantee program to address the Brazilian cotton case, Washington Trade Daily noted in an analysis published late Monday. Read More...

The expected consideration of the 949-page farm bill on Wednesday in the House may be part of a trend toward quick consideration of massive legislation, National Journal reported today. Read More...

The Food and Drug Administration has continued to allow dozens of antibiotics to be used in livestock feed, despite findings from its researchers that the drugs could expose humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria through the food supply, the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a report issued Monday.
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Over night, the National Corn Growers Association and the National Wildlife Federation joined other key commodity and conservation groups in endorsing the farm bill.
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The National Association of Counties endorsed the farm bill today, citing its provision to extend the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program for counties surrounded by federal lands and rural development provisions. Read More...

The National Catttlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) held a news conference with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) today to call for defeat of the farm bill because it does not change requirements for country-of-origin labeling of red meat.
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In a sign that the House leadership will whip members to vote for the farm bill conference report early Wednesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, today issued statements of support for the farm bill. Read More...

A number of farm, conservation, food aid groups and other agriculture-related groups came out with endorsements of the farm bill conference report after it was released. Read More...

The National Milk Producers Federation and International Dairy Foods Association both endorsed the farm bill conference report, despite the difficulties in writing the new dairy title. Read More...

The formal Congressional Budget Office score for the farm bill conference report has not yet been released, but here are key figures The Hagstrom Report has obtained from congressional aides. Read More...

The farm bill conference report does not include the controversial amendment sponsored by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to forbid states from banning the sale of an agricultural product because there are objections to production methods. Read More...

Earlier today, several meat industry groups including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Chicken Council, the National Pork Producers Council and the American Meat Institute said they would oppose the farm bill because it does not make changes to country-of-origin labeling (COOL) or the Packers and Stockyards Act. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Senate Agriculture ranking member Thad Cochran, R-Miss., have formally announced the release of the Agriculture Act of 2014. Read More...

The Hagstrom Report has obtained what appears to be an authentic copy of the farm bill conference report.
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House and Senate agriculture leaders and their staffs appear to be wrapping up the final details of the farm bill today, with plans to release the bill later today and a vote on it Wednesday morning in the House of Representatives. Read More...

In a lengthy analysis of the relationship of the Republican Party to farmers and the farm bill, Molly Ball of The Atlantic details the impact of the delays of the bill and the arguments over farm subsidies and food stamps on the Republican Party. Read More...

House and Senate Agriculture committee staffs have completed all but a few items in the farm bill, and the House is likely to proceed to consideration of the bill this week without holding a public conference committee meeting, House aides said today. Read More...

The chief counsel of the House Agriculture Committee sent House farm bill conferees a memo late today urging them to have a proxy form on file for voting on the farm bill conference report in case they are unable to return to Washington for a conference meeting, The Hagstrom Report has learned. Read More...

The National Grain and Feed Association and the North American Export Grain Association announced Thursday that they have asked Syngenta to stop selling two types of biotechnology-enhanced corn seed, citing the lack of approval by China and other countries. Read More...

The omnibus appropriations bill directs the Agriculture Department to grant waivers for the 2014-15 school year to any school district that certifies it cannot operate a school food service program without increased costs to comply with the interim final rule for the school lunch and breakfast programs Under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. Read More...

Congressional farm leaders are struggling to file a farm bill conference report by early next week, Politico and The Hill have reported. Read More...

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., today praised an apparent proposal by Attorney General Eric Holder to make it possible for marijuana growers and distributors to deposit their money in banks without fear of prosecution for violating federal laws. Read More...

SAN DIEGO — While state and federal officials said in the past week they will try to help with California’s severe drought, a California Farm Bureau official here said more storage facilities are needed in the northern part of the state to avoid water shortages in the future. Read More...

State farm and ranch land protection program funding increased 19 percent from 2011 to 2012, but funding levels are still 39 percent below where they were in 2008, according to an American Farmland Trust survey released this week. Read More...

A bipartisan group of 31 senators and a group of 30 House members sent letters to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy today urging her to revise the proposal ESA has put out for volumetric requirements for biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2014. Read More...

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said today that a proposal to turn the issue of payment limitations and how many farm managers can qualify for subsidy payments over to the Agriculture Department for a final decision won't result in strict rules. Read More...

SAN DIEGO — The very idea of biodiesel conjures up images of soybean farmers, rural production plants, farm equipment and pickup trucks.
But in a move that fits in with the biodiesel industry’s quest to gain more acceptance of its products in both home heating oil and urban vehicle fleets, the National Biodiesel Board in November chose Stephen Levy, a New York-based energy marketing executive, as its chairman. Read More...

First Lady Michelle Obama stopped at a Subway restaurant in Washington, D.C., today to announce that the nationally franchised sandwich shop has made a three-year commitment to support her “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity. Read More...

SAN DIEGO — Divisions within the renewable fuels industry were apparent today as the National Biodiesel Board gave its “impact” award to the California Air Resources Board for its low carbon fuel standard, the same day that a federal appeals court ruled against an appeal from the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy and others that the standard discriminates in favor of California industry. Read More...

Cropland erosion rates remained stable between 2007 and 2010 despite extreme weather events and specialty crop acreage has surged, the Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service said in a report today. Read More...

SAN DIEGO — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has joined federal legislators in writing President Barack Obama to urge him not to allow his administration to cut volumetric requirements for biodiesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard, National Biodiesel Board Washington lobbyist Anne Steckel told the group’s annual convention here today. Read More...

There appears to have been no movement on the farm bill in recent days, with members of Congress home in their districts and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday closing the government on Monday and the weather keeping it closed on Tuesday, with federal employees on liberal leave today. Read More...

SAN DIEGO — The biodiesel industry, angered by the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to cut back the biodiesel mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard, is planning a major campaign to remind President Barack Obama that as a senator he co-sponsored the bill that created the standard that allowed the industry to grow.
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House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Saturday he still expects the farm bill to contain work requirements for food stamp program participants, according to a report in the Springfield, Ill., State Register-Journal.
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In actions that have major implications for farm workers, 10 states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon and Vermont — joined New Mexico, Utah and Washington in extending driver’s license eligibility to unauthorized residents, the National Conference of State Legislatures said in a report on state immigration laws passed in 2013. Read More...

SAN ANTONIO — Farmers and ranchers throughout the country should be concerned that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may list the Plains spotted skunk on the endangered species list, a Texas official told attendees at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention here last week. Read More...

SAN ANTONIO — The American Farm Bureau Federation is going into the convention and publishing businesses. Read More...

Each winter, Jerry Hagstrom travels the country to the annual ag group conferences that provide a look at what will be making news in the year ahead. Today the founder and executive editor of The Hagstrom Report thought readers — especially those in Washington enduring another winter storm — might enjoy hearing about his weekend discovering what’s new in food and trends in downtown Los Angeles. Read More...

Thursday night’s announcement by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that he is battling cancer and will retire at the end of this year raises the possibility that House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., might run for the seat, the Associated Press reported today. Read More...

The congressional appropriators’ decision on the size of the international food aid budget and their decision not to agree to President Barack Obama’s proposal to move food aid jurisdiction from the Agriculture Department to the U.S. Agency for International Development has won praise from the Alliance for Global Food Security.
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Lawmakers and groups asked President Barack Obama on Thursday to live up to a campaign pledge to work for the labeling of genetically modified organisms, Reuters reported. Read More...

The National Restaurant Association on Thursday released its 2014 annual industry forecast.
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The National Milk Producers Federation, the nation’s largest association of dairy farmers, conceded late today that Congress will not pass the market stabilization program that is has sought as part of a new dairy program, and that the group must engage in discussions about alternatives. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said today that the farm bill will contain a measure to use $400 million of the farm bill savings to make payments in lieu of taxes to Western communities surrounded by federal land. Read More...

The Senate voted today to pass the Consolidated Appropriations Act, paving the way for President Barack Obama to sign the legislation by Saturday when the current continuing resolution funding the government expires. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., issued a statement late today that he has not agreed to a dairy proposal in the farm bill. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said today he believes a dairy program that he can accept is almost done, and that it will pave the way for House leadership to bring the farm bill to the floor the week of January 27 and be finished before the House goes out of session on January 29 for the Republican retreat. Read More...

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said today he intends to mark up the trade promotion authority bill “soon” after Congress returns from the Martin Luther King Day one-week break, Washington Trade Daily reported today. Read More...

Americans are eating healthier, Obama administration officials said today as they released a study on American eating habits from 2005 to 2010. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., just told reporters that a dairy deal he believes he can accept is almost done and that rules on payment limits and “actively engaged” farmers are “being working on.” Read More...

Aides to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., declined late Wednesday to confirm media reports that the two had reached agreement on dairy, the biggest remaining impasse in the farm bill, but industry sources said they believe a deal is in the works. Read More...

The fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill creates a $1 million national commission on domestic hunger by including an amendment that Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., successfully offered when the House Appropriations Committee brought up the Agriculture appropriations bill in 2013. Read More...

The omnibus appropriations bill provides more money for the Agriculture Department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and directs the agency to resume the reports it canceled due to lack of funding. Read More...

“We are at a pivotal point in our trade policy [but] nothing can proceed without TPA,” Trade Representative Michael Froman said Tuesday evening, referring to trade promotion authority. Read More...

Delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in San Antonio adopted resolutions concerning private companies’ collection of farm data, DTN reported. Read More...

SAN ANTONIO — Delegates at the 95th American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention re-elected Bob Stallman as president for an eighth two-year term.
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Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., today released a list of items in the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill that she considers to be accomplishments of her negotiations in the bill, including a number that affect food, agriculture and rural areas. Read More...

Key farm, food aid and sports groups began issuing statements today on the omnibus appropriations bill released Monday, which would fund the government through the end of the 2014 fiscal year on September 30. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Monday that payment limits are the big problem with moving the farm bill bill forward, but a key Senate aide said Peterson is wrong. Read More...

Congressional appropriators reached agreement today on an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the government for the rest of fiscal year 2014, including a section for the Agriculture Department and related agencies. Read More...

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said today that language he offered to restrict the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from regulating farms is included in the report accompanying the omnibus appropriations bill. Read More...

SAN ANTONIO — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said here today that he is running out of patience with Congress over inaction on the farm bill, but he declined to provide much direction on the dairy program issue that is delaying completion of the bill. Read More...

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., still disagree over the dairy provision in the farm bill conference report, The Washington Post reported today. Read More...

Marijuana distributors sanctioned by states are find banking a major problem because banks are concerned that, while marijuana distribution is legal for medical or recreational reasons in some states, the federal government still considers it an illegal substance, The New York Times reported Sunday. Read More...

SAN ANTONIO — American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman signaled at the group’s annual convention today that Farm Bureau leadership is frustrated with House members who have not passed legislation, even though some of them are tea party-oriented members elected in rural areas. Read More...

SAN ANTONIO — American Farm Bureau Federation members are expected to consider resolutions here this week to deal with the increased gathering of information on farm matters by corporations and the government. Read More...

Farm bill conferees are struggling to come up with a compromise on dairy policy that would satisfy House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who objects to what he calls the supply management provision in the Senate-passed bill that is also supported by dairy farmers and House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn. Read More...

Incoming Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., will not pay as much attention to the cattle industry as outgoing Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has, National Foreign Trade Council President Bill Reinsch said this week. Read More...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday in two radio interviews that there will be “hell to pay” in rural America for Congress if members do not get the farm bill done soon, and that there should be a way to deal with the concerns of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on dairy policy without hurting the interests of dairy farmers. Read More...

SAN FRANCISCO — A West coast wine and cheese tasting and decent meals were the highlights of a trip on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight service from Los Angeles to San Francisco that was otherwise marked by an accident on a train ahead and a three-hour delay in arrival. Read More...

The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled hearings next week on pending nominees and on the proposal to grant President Barack Obama trade promotion authority. Read More...

Leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees said today they expect Congress by the end of next week to approve a continuing resolution funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year, but that they will need a three-day extension to cover the period after the current continuing resolution that ends on Wednesday, January 15. Read More...

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Senate Finance ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., today introduced a bill to give President Barack Obama and trade negotiators the authority to negotiate trade pacts that could not be amended by Congress. But House Ways and Means ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich., and other Democrats including Rep. Rosa De Lauro, D-Conn., said they could not support it. ...
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Farm bill conferees are considering a proposal that would give producers a choice between a continuation of the current Milk Income Loss Contract payments or the new margin insurance program but without the section that the dairy farmers call market stabilization and the processors call supply management, The Hagstrom Report has learned, even as Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and David Scott, D-Ga., urged the conferees to adopt their amendment to eliminate supply management that the House adopted in its bill. Read More...

As the House and Senate Agriculture committees try to finish the farm bill including a major change in the U.S. cotton program, representatives of the Brazilian cotton industry are coming to Washington to make their case that the change should comply with the World Trade Organization case that they won against the United States. Read More...

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, today took a hard line on whether what he considers supply management will be included in a new farm bill. Read More...

Tyson Foods today sent a letter to its pork contractors urging them to improve housing for gestating sows and to make some other changes to make their production methods more humane. The moves were praised by the Humane Society of the United States. Read More...

Agriculture Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon on Tuesday emphasized the importance of new school meal rules in reducing obesity, and said the Obama administration’s recent decision to allow schools to serve unlimited amounts of grains and meats as long as they meet overall weekly calorie limits amounted to minor tinkering with the rules, although legislators who backed the change called it a major accomplishment. Read More...

The Organic Trade Association board of directors has promoted Laura Batcha, its executive vice president, to the position of CEO/executive director. Read More...

The U.S.-Japan equivalency partnership became effective on January 1, the Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Marketing Service announced today. Read More...

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said today that is unclear whether there will be a meeting of farm bill conferees this week and that the issue of dairy policy has not been resolved. Read More...

About 79 percent of people eligible for food stamps now participate in the program, Agriculture Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon said today.
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The farm bill conference report is still on track to go to mark up on Thursday and Friday, farm lobbyists told The Hagstrom Report today, as congressional leaders continued to express positive sentiments about prospects for the bill. Read More...

In a radio interview, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the farm program has to work in all parts of the country, a position that would indicate he is more open to a softer position on payment limits than Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. Read More...

Smithfield Foods, Inc. and its hog production subsidiary, Murphy-Brown LLC, announced today that they are recommending sow growers join with the company in converting their facilities to group housing systems for pregnant sows, an action that was praised by The Humane Society of the United States. Read More...

The Grocery Manufacturers Association is preparing a bill for voluntary federal labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients that would preempt state labeling, according to a discussion draft obtained by Politico, but critics have already denounced the bill. Read More...

President Barack Obama has sent the nomination of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., to be U.S. ambassador to China to the Senate, along with and a long list of other nominations of importance to agriculture. Read More...

The leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees are likely to announce a framework agreement on the farm bill this week, possibly as early as Tuesday, Hill sources have told The Hagstrom Report. Read More...

Low commodity prices and the upcoming elections will put more pressure on Republicans to vote for the farm bill this year, Jerry Hagstrom writes in his National Journal column today. Read More...

A key Agriculture Department official today urged Congress to finish the farm bill quickly but avoided comment on reports that the nutrition title will cut $8 billion from the food stamp program over 10 years. Read More...

As congressional appropriators were putting finishing touches on the appropriations bills for the remainder of the 2014 fiscal year, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz wrote asking that Congress authorize the Energy Department to contribute a portion of funds to the Defense Department for the development of advanced biofuels. Read More...

The Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released its draft environmental impact statement on Friday as part of its review to determine whether to deregulate genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybean plants that are resistant to several herbicides, including one known as 2,4-D. Read More...

During 2013, the prices of various energy commodities increased from 2012 levels or were down modestly as prices of non-energy commodities including farm products generally fell significantly, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported today. Read More...

Although the price of marijuana in Colorado is rising after legalization for recreational use, the drug is a bargain there compared to the going price on the non-legal market, National Journal reported today. Read More...

Do you have favorite books on agriculture, farming and ranching? In honor of its centennial in 2013, the Labor Department in partnership with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress — is developing a list of “Books that Shaped Work in America.” Read More...