News Briefs

Slow Progress On Farm Bill Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and House Ag Chairman, Frank Lucas (R-OK), have said they would like to move versions of the Farm Bill this spring. In discussions, the sticking points are the...

Less Savings From Same Farm Bills The possibility of getting a five-year Farm Bill passed just got harder. A new Congressional Budget Office estimate says the amount of savings has changed since last summer and it is much less. The Senate...

Farm Bill Takes A Back Seat Again The Farm Bill is having a hard time getting any attention in Washington, D.C. The Obama Administration is expected to submit to Congress its FY14 budget to start this year’s budgeting and appropriations...

BASF Acquires Becker Underwood BASF has completed the acquisition of Becker Underwood from Norwest Equity Partners, a United States-based private equity investment company. With the acquisition, BASF is now a leading global provider of technologies for biological seed treatment as...

Farm Bill Kicked To Lame Duck Session The Farm Bill is one of many issues facing Congress when after the election. Some estimate the “lame duck” session could run five weeks; some predict it will be called off. There are...

Senate Ag Committee Issues Farm Bill The U.S. Senate Ag Committee voted to approve the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, a bipartisan Farm Bill authored by Committee Chairwoman, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, R-Minn., and Ranking Member, Sen. Pat...

Producers Unveil Program Needs Jimbo Grissom, president, Western Peanut Growers Association, addressed the Senate Ag Committee in Washington, D.C., recently unveiling proposals from the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, who represents growers in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, and the United...

Super Committee To Impact Farm Bill The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction or Super Committee has convened with the goal of cutting $1.5 trillion from the U.S. national budget over the next decade. Congress must adopt their recommendations by...

Planted Acreage Still A Question State peanut directors continue to debate USDA’s planted acreage estimates. Don Koehler, Georgia Peanut Commission executive director, says that unless contracts get close to $700 per ton, acreage in Georgia could be as low as 450,000...

Stabenow Talks Farm Bill Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mi) recently told reporters, “We’re going to start right now and move through the process, and we’ll make decisions as we go along. “In terms of an exact timetable, I think it’s in the...

Rep. Frank Lucas (R) of Oklahoma is a farmer and knows about peanut production in his state. Lucas recently said that the House of Representatives Ag Committee will be a challenge to lead. “There are 26 republicans and 20 democrats....

Ag Committee Members Announced House Agriculture Committee Chairman-elect Frank Lucas, Okla., announced the new Republican members of the committee. The members are as follows: Bob Gibbs, OH; Martha Roby, AL; Scott Tipton, CA; Rick Crawford, AR; Chris Gibson, NY; Bobby Schilling,...