Students from Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky and Oklahoma were elected to serve on the 2017-18 National FFA Officer team. Breanna Holbert, an agricultural education major at California State University of Chico, made history as the first female African American elected as National FFA president. Her fellow officers include: National Secretary – Erica Baier, agricultural education major at Iowa State … Read More
USFRA Supporting Food Evolution Movie
The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is supporting a new film that offers an independent investigation into biotechnology that concludes GMOs may well be a force for good to feed the world. Food Evolution, which is now streaming on Hulu, was commissioned by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and directed by Academy Award®-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy. “The … Read More
House Ag Chair Says Farm Bill on Track
House Agriculture Committee Chair Mike Conaway (R-TX) says they are moving forward with work on the 2018 Farm Bill. “Still on track for late for fourth quarter (this year) or early first quarter of next year,” said Conaway during a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “We’re going to be ready on the committee…when floor time opens up.” Rep. Conaway was … Read More
SMART Farmer Rochelle Krusemark
Rochelle Krusemark is a Minnesota grain and soybean farmer, a state and national soybean board and USFRA board member, wife, mother and grandmother – all at the same time! Obviously a busy lady, Rochelle squeezed in time as she was watching her two toddler grandsons to tell us what being a SMART farmer means to her, and why she is … Read More
Agrikua’s Gender Equality Project = 1st at #YouthAgSummit
Last week, I was given the opportunity to attend the 2017 Youth Ag Summit organized by Bayer Crop Science. Never have I ever attended such a motivating and uplifting agricultural event. 100 youth from 18-25 gathered in Brussels, Belgium to tackle some of the worlds leading issues in agriculture. During the Summit, delegates worked across the week in groups of … Read More
Secretary Perdue in Europe
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has been on a whirlwind trip around Europe for the past several days, starting with meetings in London before taking part in the G-7 ministerial, taking part in World Food Day in Rome and meeting Pope Francis yesterday, and concluding his trip today in Madrid. “It’s been a very productive trip,” said Perdue during … Read More
Two More USDA Nominees Get Their Hearing
The Senate Agriculture Committee yesterday heard from nominees Greg Ibach to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs and Bill Northey to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. “Both Mr. Ibach and Mr. Northey have valuable ‘boots-on-the-ground’ experience. They are both farmers,” said Committee Chairman Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS). “They know what … Read More
Help Finally on the Way for USDA
Secy Perdue greets McKinney and Censky before Senate hearing (USDA Photo) Over five months after he took office, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue finally has some help on the way. Yesterday, the Senate voted to formally approved the nominations of Stephen Censky as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, and Ted McKinney as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. … Read More
Alltech Talks Farm of the Future LIVE
Alltech hosted a live video event on the future of agriculture and technology with a panel of agribusiness experts discussing and debating their thoughts on the future of the agricultural industry, new consumer demographics and demands, ag technology, big data, nutrigenomics and precision nutrition. Continue to follow the discussion on Twitter with the hashtag #FarmingTheFuture. Great questions were posed, thought-provoking … Read More
SMART Farmer Emily Buck
Emily Buck farms with her husband and daughter near Columbus, Ohio where they raise soybeans, corn and wheat and also have a small sheep operation. Her main role on the farm, beyond helping with crops, is to manage the 40 ewes. Off the farm, Emily is a university researcher and professor of agricultural communication at Ohio State University, which gives … Read More