Cell phone salvation for Third World farmers
Mobile phones may be the best hope for growers looking to improve yields, market crops and move out of subsistence-level farming. In the deepest backwoods of the developing world, the introduction of the simplest mobile phones is proving to be a phenomenon of great potential.
Agriculture holds line during child labor storm
The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent decision to withdraw the proposed rule dealing with family farms and child labor calmed a months-long storm in rural America. Accused by opponents of being a hyper-regulatory overreach, the rule would have prevented the children of farming families from many work-related activities."This is an important victory for agriculture. Maybe the biggest victory is that so many different agricultural groups and individuals not only hung together, but did so for so long. That proves the strength of a unified agriculture."
Direct payment death as farm bill heads to Senate
The Senate Agriculture Committee completed its markup and passed the 2012 farm bill. It now heads to the full Senate. According to a committee, the bill — which ends direct payments to farmers — will cut agriculture spending some $25 billion.
Farm bill draft hammered in South
Reaction of commodity and farm groups to the release of a Senate Agriculture Committee draft farm bill has been mixed. Several sectors of Southern agriculture are especially critical of the proposed legislation.
Rancor in the House over budget
The House Agriculture Committee passed the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2012 after 90 minutes of heated rhetoric, grandstanding and warnings that the budget cut proposals were a threat to the committee’s much-touted bipartisanship.
Louisiana weevil fund threatened by budget sweep
Louisiana state legislators are considering several bills to insure that $766,000 in boll weevil eradication funds are not included in a fund sweep that Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing to help balance the state budget. The fund sweep would divert almost $200 million, including money currently in the weevil fund, to help pay for Medicaid and other expenses.
Child labor laws stoking backlash
Proposed U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rules governing child labor on farms continue to stoke a firestorm of criticism. Backlash has come from rural communities, agriculture advocacy groups, state and federal lawmakers.
Diminishing hopes for new farm bill passage
Despite a series of House Agriculture Committee hearings and an expectation that the Senate Agriculture Committee will begin writing the legislation in mid-April, lawmakers have recently been tamping down chances for passage.
Lacey Act a tangle of aquaculture regulation
The Lacey Act regulates U.S. domesticated fish as if they were taken out of the wild. The Lacey Act mandates penalites for moving live product over state lines at $100,000 and four months in the federal penitentiary.
Corzine denials continue as MF Global scandal deepens
Jon Corzine, disgraced former head of MF Global, denied reports he ordered some $200 million worth of funds be transferred to remedy an overdraft in a brokerage account with bank JP Morgan. The congressional investigation of the MF Global collapse and subsequent bankruptcy is expected to focus on less senior members of the brokerage’s back-room team.
Ryan budget cuts $30 billion from agriculture
Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, released a proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2013. The plan would cut agriculture spending some $30 billion over the next decade and those writing the next farm bill will have to adhere to those limits.
Cotton industry behind STAX plan
The NCC says effective risk management would come with the adoption of the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX). The Environmental Working Group jumped into the federal crop insurance fray with claims that U.S. taxpayers unwittingly funded overseas insurance companies between 2007 and 2011.
