Farm Bill

When you set a record ag trade deficit for the third consecutive year, the decline isn’t an aberration or a coincidence. It is growing proof that your national ag policy is headed in the wrong direction.

With the farm bill, Next Generation Fuels Act and global trade discussions on the table in Congress, now is the time for farmers to make their voices heard.

County fair, state fair, Learfield Ag/Brownfield summer meeting and Farm Progress Show filled my August. Hot and worn out at the end of many of those days, but my cup is full.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $22 million for projects in 36 states that expand access to technical assistance for livestock producers and increases the use of conservation practices on grazing lands.

Berkeley Boehne harvested an excellent wheat crop in July and his corn and soybean crops also look good at the start of August.

Trying to stem the flow of money in politics is like trying to hold back the Mississippi River. It’s dirty, dangerous work that is almost always washed away by a flood of even more money.

Time is running out for Congress to pass a modernized farm bill this year. Families — on and off the farm — cannot afford a delay.

In a recent letter to congressional leadership, more than 500 agricultural groups called for the passage of a new farm bill.

As soon as the large mahogany door in the congressional building was opened, the farmers were greeted with hellos and handshakes. “Do you want some Indiana popcorn?” the staff in Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Pence’s office proudly asked.

As he walked to the stage to collect the Corn Advocate of the Year award, Tim Thompson looked genuinely shocked. His mouth fell open, and his eyes widened.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn the Chevron deference was a business-favoring decision to upend 40 years of legal precedent and redirect federal power from agencies like the USDA to the courts and Congress.

This year, like last year, is a farm bill year — and this year, like last year, probably won’t deliver a farm bill. The reason is the oldest one in Washington, D.C.: politics.

The Fourth of July is a highlight of the year on our family farm. Each summer, my family gets together for a traditional cookout, celebrating our nation with delicious food and the company of loved ones.

A longstanding complaint here is the utter incomprehensibility of federal milk pricing policy. For years we’ve joked that only four people in the world understand its complexity.

Nominations are now being accepted for farmers and ranchers to serve on local Farm Service Agency county committees.

We in agriculture have a long tradition of marketing our bounty by more pleasant, if not less-than-truthful, names in hopes that less-informed eaters buy the sizzle rather than the fact.

When it comes to the 2024 farm bill, we are at one of those critical points, and if we’re going to reach the finish line, it’s time for Congress to pick up the pace.

The slowest dance on Capitol Hill, the writing of a new farm bill, gained tempo May 1 when both the House and Senate Ag committees released versions of their bills.

It is unclear when the U.S. Congress will pass the next farm bill. However, it is clear starting with a conservation plan is the best first step farmers can take to the best advantage of the programs in that bill.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of what is referred to as the foundation of the modern crop insurance program.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging dairy producers to enroll for 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage, an important safety net program that helps offset milk and feed price differences.

Each year, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri and its collaborators put together a baseline projection for the U.S. and world ag sectors for the major grains, oilseeds, biofuels, livestock and dairy commodities.

With a September deadline, and a congressional summer vacation on the calendar, the clock is ticking on a new five-year farm bill.

Even when Speaker of the House Mike Johnson finds enough baling wire to lash together the votes to pass the budget, it’s little more than a signal to some of his colleagues to heat up the tar and gather the feathers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that agricultural producers and private landowners can sign up for the general Conservation Reserve Program through March 29.

Farmers and ranchers don’t shy away from hard work. When there’s a storm coming, we band together to bring the crops in. When our neighbors need a hand rebuilding, we pack our tools in our trucks and head right over.

Like much of the news anymore, the initial numbers from the Census of Agriculture were accurately reported, quickly downplayed — or even worse, ignored — by most Big Ag groups and then just pushed aside.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will soon meet with farm officials from key trading partners Canada and Mexico.

America’s crop insurers are committed to building on the foundational principles of crop insurance to strengthen the farm safety net and offer more risk management products to more farmers.

Leadership from the Senate and House agriculture committees delivered a clear message to the Crop Insurance Industry Annual Convention: Crop insurance has bicameral and bipartisan support from the “four corners” of agriculture.

As the deadline to purchase federal crop insurance moves closer, COUNTRY Financial is providing enhanced coverages for Illinois farmers in addition to federal crop insurance.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture plans to distribute more than $545,000 over a three-year period thanks to funding allocated in the Specialty Crop Block Grant program in the federal farm bill.

From a window atop my grandfather’s old barn, you can see my family’s whole farm, from the hayfields to the chicken houses to the pasture where the mama cows are grazing.

Whether it’s caring for expectant sows, introducing Peoria County fourth-graders to baby pigs or steering the Illinois Pork Producers Association as its new president, Cheryl Cowser Walsh approaches each task with a positive mindset.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Executive Committee approved the organization’s policy priorities at the 2024 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show.

Agricultural economists provided an economic forecast for 2024 in the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report’s annual outlook.

The Illinois Pork Producers Association is leading a call to members of the Illinois congressional delegation for a legislative remedy to state-by-state livestock production requirements.

We have just wrapped up our 105th American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention and Trade Show in Salt Lake City, and I am so grateful for the time we had to look to new frontiers in our organization and across agriculture.

While January left the old year behind, it didn’t leave behind any of the baggage 2023 saddled American farmers and ranchers with.

Since the U.S. Congress extended the 2018 farm bill for 2024, farmers will have the option to enroll their base acres in either the Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage programs for the upcoming growing season.

My family’s fourth-generation farm has been growing asparagus in west Michigan for decades, but that could soon be changing. Simply put, there are too many hurdles that block my path to growing this nutritious crop efficiently and sustainably.

With the 2018 farm bill extended until the end of 2024, and the timeline on a new measure uncertain, one factor that will be front and center is the cost of the new legislation.

Federal crop insurance isn’t just a safety net for farmers. It also serves as a backstop for rural communities and rural residents.

He’s now retired from Iowa State University Extension, but the economist from Cyclone Nation donned the orange and blue of the Fighting Illini to talk about the future — and the past — to a group of northern Illinois farmers.

In 2023, my first full year serving as executive vice president at the American Farm Bureau Federation, I enjoyed witnessing the complete cycle of the grassroots policy development process, from county Farm Bureau meetings to last year’s convention in Puerto Rico.

The pain I felt late Sunday, Jan. 7, was hard to pinpoint until I realized exactly when it struck: just moments after news of a tentative, 2024 budget deal between Senate and House negotiators had been announced.

The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy’s biennial report featured what’s been done and what needs to be done in the non-point source sector.

A year ago, variability and volatility were the watchwords for farmland values and sales going into 2023.

There’s nothing quite like the fresh start of a new year. After all the holiday decorations are put away and the college bowl games have wrapped up, many of us start making our resolutions for the year ahead.

Founding father Benjamin Franklin was spot-on almost three centuries ago when he noted — in print, no less — that two unavoidable facts of life were death and taxes.