A New Way Forward for the Farm Bill?

People in the mainstream of the political spectrum are talking about an option to advance the 2013 Farm Bill by splitting off the Nutrition Title as separate legislation. This solution was not long ago only being talked about on the far end of the spectrum, but now is being mulled over by the policy leaders…

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Preemption Does Not Put Production Systems in Conflict

A bill that recently passed both the House and Senate of the North Carolina General Assembly would preempt local government authorities from banning plants, seeds and plant parts in their jurisdictions. Some advocates of organic farming systems have suggested that the legislation will harm organic producers. They reason that with the legislation in place, organic…

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What Government Policy Impacts Farms the Most?

Farmers are extremely attentive to governmental policy, especially the regulations generated by the Environmental Protection Agency, but also tax policy, trade policy, and conservation policy. Immigration policy has recently moved to the forefront of farmers’ minds due to necessity of finding labor and the rising costs to farmers of the current farm worker visa program.…

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Precision Ag is Dependent on Many Technologies

The tools of farmers are becoming so precise that almost unheard of issues (for farmers) are moving to the forefront. Farmers have adapted Global Position System (GPS) technology just like engineers, surveyors, and the military. Unlike Joe and Susy Sixpack in the family wagon, who also have adapted GPS for plotting the course to the…

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No Simple Answers on How to Feed the World

A special report titled “Feeding the World” in a recent issue of The Economist magazine examined how we will cope with world food production in the coming decades. The report concluded that the focus on a “food crisis” has produced competing perspectives on the main problems with food and agriculture, and led to different proposals…

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Trials Underway on New Soybean-Hull-Based Plastic

After Ohio soybean farmer Keith Roberts unloads his soybeans at the elevator, he often reflects on where they will be going next. “Ohio soybeans offer an abundant and renewable supply of ingredients for food and livestock feed,” says Roberts, chair of the Ohio Soybean Council’s (OSC’s) New Uses Committee. “In addition, soybeans make it possible

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