Farm groups split over need for additional beef checkoff
The comment period for a new proposed beef checkoff program ends Dec. 10 – and now the beef industry awaits a USDA decision on whether an additional checkoff will coexist with the long-running beef checkoff program.
Waterways funding fuel tax piggybacks onto ABLE Act
Agriculture and transportation groups are among those lauding the Dec. 3 U.S. House passage of the ABLE Act (H.R. 674), which includes a provision to increase the user fee, or fuel tax, barge and towing companies pay into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.
Kentucky narrowly approves $1 per animal beef checkoff
The national beef checkoff program has been seen as a driving force in marketing and research efforts to make the industry stronger across the country. Now Kentucky producers will contribute to a state checkoff after voting for a $1 per head assessment last month.
Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror, Christmas is in the windshield; and given the glacial pace of key policy decisions awaiting resolution in Washington, D.C., it’s just another Groundhog Day out here in rural America.
New York audience swayed by debate on biotechnology
A few weeks ago I wrote about how the debate over biotechnology was not about science. I suggested that showing people the benefits of GMO technology would win their support. Just a week after that column was published, came a dramatic example of just that point.
School referenda in Indiana differ in May and November
In May 2014 Indiana voters decided 10 school referenda. Nine passed. This November, two referenda were decided. Both lost. Since November 2009, 66 percent of referenda in May have passed. Only 38 percent of referenda in November have passed.
Ohio Farm Bureau proposes CAUV tax changes for 2016
The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation has presented its official recommendations to the Ohio General Assembly and Joseph W. Testa, state tax commissioner, it believes will improve and modernize the Current Agricultural Use Value program.
Don’t repeal or weaken the U.S. country of origin labeling law in federal spending legislation: That’s what the U.S. Cattlemen’s Assoc. said in a letter also signed by 206 agricultural and rural-based groups.
