A new Farm Bill…finally.

The agriculture industry has been waiting for years. Literally. For the day a new Farm Bill – or the Agriculture Act of 2014, is signed into law. 

After several years of deliberations, multiple extensions, and countless hours of work, President Obama is signed the Agriculture Act of 2014 at Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow’s alma mater, Michigan State University.

According to Brownfield news, Chairman Lucas says this has been a long time coming.  “I’ve told my committee members I feel much better now that it’s passed the House, it’s passed the Senate, and the President has signaled he’ll sign it,” he says.  “When you consider how much effort it took to get here and when you consider how difficult this process has been, I’m not sure I will sleep with both eyes closed until the dry ink copy of the bill gets to the National Archives for filing.”

Ahead of the bill’s signing, President Obama said the Agriculture Act of 2014 is a sign that Republicans and Democrats can come together in Washington and work together. “With this bill we break the cycle of short-sided, crisis driven partisan decision-making and actually get this stuff done,” he says.  “It’s a good sign.  And that’s the way you should expect Washington to work.”

Farm Bill. Jobs Bill. Conservation Bill. Food Bill.

Despite its name, the President reminds us the Farm Bill doesn’t just help farmers. “Secretary Vilsack calls it a jobs bill,” he says.  “An innovation bill.  An infrastructure bill.  A research bill. A conservation bill. It’s like a Swiss Army Knife.”

Now that the Farm Bill has been signed, it’s up to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement the programs.

To do that, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack says teams for each Farm Bill title have been put in place.

“We’ve asked those teams to identify the rules, regulations and guidelines that have to be adopted because of new or different modifications to existing programs,” said Vilsack.

The Secretary says another group will be responsible for prioritizing what needs to be done first.

“For example, it’s fairly obvious to me that we have to have the disaster assistance for livestock operators restored as quickly as possible because these folks have been waiting for a couple of years,” the Secretary said. “There’s a new dairy program, there’s obviously a revenue protection program, there are slight changes to crop insurance, and those things are obviously priorities.”

Listen to the audio interview with Vilsack from Brownfield, here.

Japan: One year later

One year ago on March 11, Japan was struck with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami. To us in Nebraska, it was hard to really relate with their suffering and their need.
But we knew we needed to help.

Farmers from all across Nebraska came together and the Nebraska Corn Growers Association started the grain donation program for Japan through the American Red Cross, where over $60,000 was raised to support the cause. Read more here.

In July, the Nebraska Corn Board sent a team, hosted by the U.S. Meat Export Federation, to Japan to promote U.S. beef and pork -- and to help deliver meals to evacuees with Curt Tomasevicz. Read about that mission here or for a compilation of posts, click here.

Now a year later, Japan is recovering. Our export markets are returning to above normal, and our ag trade partnerships are strong. Please take time to view this video of how Japan is surviving one year later, and to appreciate their gratitude.

Japan One Year Later

Fixing hunger’s real causes

National Corn Growers CEO Rick Tolman posted a good "Our View" article on NCGA's website yesterday. It discusses some of the issues surrounding hunger and encourages people to work together to solve them.

Click here to read the column.

Here's a line: The U.S. agricultural community is doing what we can to help feed the world. Other entities need to recognize, accept and remove bottlenecks and speed transportation of grain cargo - and remove roadblocks caused by governmental bureaucracy and political corruption in countries where hunger is prevalent. It is crucial to assure the hungry are fed.

Food fight in Rome?

The High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy begins tomorrow in Rome. It's hosted by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization.

It is safe to say that some biofuel bashing will take place, and much will likely be pointed at ethanol. Corn ethanol, to be exact. FAO's pre-meeting documents cover U.S. biofuel and ethanol policy. In fact, parts of a "key policy document" reads much like the talking points the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) used in it's press call a couple of weeks ago. Mentioned specifically, among other things, is the ethanol blender tax credit.

Could it be that GMA and the Grocery Gang - and it's PR firm Glover Park - had some input? The Illinois Corn Growers think so anyway, as they state that Glover Park and GMA has visited numerous foreign embassies and food groups several weeks ago.

Since at least one UN official considers corn ethanol a "crime against humanity", it's safe to say some anti-ethanol sound bites will come from the invitation-only meeting this week.

On an interesting note, FAO reports that trade policies by some countries can exacerbate price instability on world markets. I imagine they are referring to some countries halting exports. Then after a line saying biofuels policies may need to re-examined, here's the conclusion:

“This is a unique moment in history: for the first time in 25 years, a fundamental incentive - high food commodity prices - is in place for stimulating the agricultural sector,” Jacques Diouf said. “Governments, supported by their international partners, must now undertake the necessary public investment and provide a favourable environment for private investments, while at the same time ensuring that the most vulnerable are protected from hunger.”

In other words, high prices will stimulate investment and production. Just like they are supposed to. In the mean time, we need to take care of the hungry, which the United States does like no other country in the world -- footing half (or more) of the world food aid bill.

Oil-rich states starve the World Food Program

High oil prices are increasing the price of food in this country - but imagine what high oil prices do to poor and developing countries that rely on oil imports for energy. Many of these same poor countries also rely on food aid in one degree or another -- aid that some global groups like the World Food Program say is running short.

The United States stepped up with increased donations, of course, and in fact the U.S. is by far the largest aid provider to WFP.

But wait...what about those oil-rich and getting richer countries -- who can't figure out how to spend all the cash their getting now -- don't they provide food aid or money to WFP and similar programs? Click here for the answer. I doubt it will surprise you.