Agri-Pulse, the nation's leading source of farm and food policy information, plans to launch an in-depth editorial series next month, “The Seven Things You Should Know Before You Write the Next Farm Bill,” culminating in a Farm Bill Summit at the National Press Club on March 20.   “Our editorial team had a bird's eye view of the ups and downs experienced during development of the last farm bill,” says Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant. “We think there are some important ‘lessons learned' that can help inform and stimulate debate before formal work starts on writing the next bill.” [node:read-more:link]

The Texas Department of Agriculture on Friday announced Texas grain producers have voted against the establishment of a producer assessment to self-insure against financial risks associated with selling or storing grain. TDA certified all the ballots, and the final results were 148 in favor of establishing the fund and 665 against. The referendum provided grain producers the opportunity to decide, through an impartial, electoral process, whether the risk of financial loss from placing grain on storage deposit with a grain warehouse warranted the establishment of an indemnity fund. [node:read-more:link]

The escalation of alternative eggs in Mexico, whether they are organic, free-range or cage-free, seems unstoppable. Just a year ago, there were a few brands. Today, there is a great variety.  From the marketing point of view, it has opened the range of supply, consumers can use their judgment and they have a variety to choose from, and companies are given the opportunity to differentiate themselves and have other brands. Not to mention that there are more profit margins as well. Here is where I want to talk about one little detail: the price of these eggs and the margins. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. ethanol industry ended 2016 on a high note. Ethanol production for the week ending December 30 set a new ethanol production record with an average of 1.043 million barrels per day. The March futures price for corn moved higher last week to close at $3.58 in large part due to strength in the ethanol sector. Ethanol production and exports returned strong numbers over the first quarter of the marketing year. Currently, the WASDE forecast for corn consumption for ethanol production is 5.3 billion bushels. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is making available for public comment a petition from Scotts’ Company and Monsanto Company seeking deregulation for creeping bentgrass genetically engineered (GE) for resistance to the herbicide glyphosate. The petition will be available for public review and comment for 60 days starting January 8, 2016.  Comments received on or before March 8, 2016, will be considered.  [node:read-more:link]

The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, delivered a keynote address yesterday at the Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit of the State Agriculture and Rural Leaders (SARL) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  During his address, Minister MacAulay pledged to work with the incoming U.S. administration and Congress to further strengthen the bilateral agricultural trading relationship between the two countries. He spoke of the many benefits of the Canada-U.S. [node:read-more:link]

As Miracle-Gro® prepares to return to Pasadena, The Official Rose & Flower Care Company of the Tournament of Roses® announced today details for its 2017 float. [node:read-more:link]

More than 30 interstate compacts govern the use of water from shared lakes and rivers in the United States. However, there is not a single legal agreement in place between states to guide the apportionment of groundwater that crosses state lines. In 2013, Nevada and Utah appeared poised to be the first two states to reach such an agreement, but ultimately they failed. Now, with a longstanding groundwater dispute between Mississippi and Tennessee headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, a legal precedent governing the apportionment of interstate groundwater is imminent. [node:read-more:link]

This program helps fund broadband deployment into rural communities where it is not yet economically viable for private sector providers to deliver service.The Community Connect program helps rural communities extend access where broadband service is least likely to be commercially available, but where it can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for people and businesses. The projects funded by these grants help rural residents tap into the enormous potential of the Internet for jobs, education, healthcare, public safety and community development. [node:read-more:link]

Just go to rural America. Farmers, ranchers, and most red states cannot wait for President Trump to get rid of the flood of regulations that President Obama has weighing on our shoulders.  Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) is at the top of the list. The Obama EPA has tried to regulate everything. On my farm, we need to be able to tile a wet hole, straighten a creek, or dig a ditch to improve drainage. We don’t want to be required to get a permit to make improvements on our own farms. Another question – what about Obama Care? The public doesn’t like it. [node:read-more:link]