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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Export Terminals Improving to Keep Up with Export Demand

Soy Transportation Coalition sees improvements in Pacific Northwest infrastructure Twenty-five percent of all U.S. soybeans are exported through Pacific Northwest ports; a majority of these beans eventually make their way to China. And with China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for soy continuing to increase, these ports are staying on the cutting edge of technology to make

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Free Checkoff Tool Shows How Soybean Quality Grows Value

Three Steps to Finding Soybean Varieties that Are Worth More As you watch your soybean crop mature and start estimating yields, you might also start thinking about which varieties you’ll plant next year. While you look through mounds of material about endless soybean varieties and how they’ll perform in your field, remember to also check

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