The precision agriculture industry has made a public commitment to reduce their environmental impacts – especially those related to climate change effects. While not news from an industry who is committed to developing more sustainable technologies and practices, 81 companies have gone a step further and pledged to reduce climate emissions through the American Business Act on Climate Pledge. The … Read More
AGROWN Leads the Way for Controlled Environment Ag
AGROWN recently sponsored a one- day conference at the Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center (VABEC) to review the facility as a possible location to site the first US R&D/Training center for controlled environment agriculture (CEA), water and energy. There were 24 guests on site, a dozen joined in online and nearly 100 participating on Twitter. Attendees from the U.S., Holland, … Read More
John Deere Commits to Nutrient Application Accuracy
The folks at John Deere have recently introduced the 2510H High-Speed Applicator with Dry Nutrient Attachment to increase nutrient placement accuracy and reduce trips across the field. At last week’s Farm Progress Show, Brad Pasvogel, tillage and nutrient management product engineer for John Deere, said with this new machine they have the ability to apply anhydrous ammonia and dry nutrients … Read More
1,800 Farmers Commit $3.5 Million to Water Quality
Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Ag, has announced that $3.5 million in cost share funds have been obligated to 1,800 farmers in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. The funds come from the Iowa Water Quality Initiative, which was established in 2013 to address the problem of reducing nitrogen and phosphorous in the water. Practices that were eligible for this program are; cover … Read More
Corn Growers Comment on Blocking of WOTUS
Thursday afternoon, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction against the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, postponing implementation of the “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule. Chip Bowling, president of the National Corn Growers Association and a farmer from Newburg, Maryland, issued the following statement: “We support the … Read More
Senate Yet to Deal with WOTUS & GMO Labeling
Two hot button issues Senate has yet to tackle include GMO labeling bill and the final ruling on Water of the United States (WOTUS). At the Missouri State Fair’s legislator day policy makers spoke on these issues that have a huge impact on agriculture across the country. Missouri Senator Roy Blunt says we really need to look at science enhancement … Read More
MO Farm Bureau Speaks Out Against WOTUS
The Missouri Farm Bureau has put together interactive maps to give a feel of how the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that goes into effect this weekend will impact the state. Well over 95% of the state of Missouri will qualify as a water of the U.S. under this rule. I spoke with Blake Hurst, president of the … Read More
Farm Bureau Maps Show EPA Increasing Authority
New maps released by Farm Bureau shows the federal government is massively increasing its authority at the cost of American producers. This news release from the group says the Environmental Protection Agency will radically expand its jurisdiction over land use if its controversial Waters of the United States rule takes effect as expected Aug. 28. That expansion comes even as … Read More
NCGA: Pesticide Bill Underscores Need for WOTUS Change
Passage by a committee of a Senate bill to ease some pesticide permit restrictions underscores the need for making some changes to the government’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. The National Corn Growers Association is calling on Congress to pass legislation to withdraw the controversial WOTUS rule. “This bill will cut some regulatory red tape out of the pesticide … Read More
Prez Candidate Rand Paul Wants an End to WOTUS
Republican Presidential Candidate and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul wants to end the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the US legislation. He said that the EPA is perpetrating the largest land grab of American farmland in history and non one is paying attention. He kicked off a statewide radio campaign in Iowa week “decrying the Obama Administration’s land grab of Iowa farmland”. The … Read More