Losing Control: Local Communities Are Standing up for Local Control

October 20, 2015Blog No Comments

By Barbara Patterson, government relations representative, National Farmers Union Local control is eroding across the country and examples abound: in 2014, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced her state would block any city from increasing the minimum wage on the local level; Texas made local fracking bans illegal; and the Supreme Court of Ohio struck down … Read More

Food Waste Reduction Goals Good for Farmers

October 14, 2015Blog No Comments

By Tom Driscoll, government relations representative, National Farmers Union Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first food waste reduction goal for the U.S., calling for a 50 percent reduction in food waste by 2030. Food waste is an important issue for family farmers, and National … Read More

What We Know About the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Agriculture

October 5, 2015Blog No Comments

By Barbara Patterson, government relations representative, National Farmers Union Earlier today, trade ministers from each of the twelve Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries held a joint press conference in Atlanta to announce that after seven years of negotiations the group had come to an agreement. This trade agreement is a major deal that, if ratified, will … Read More

Our Farmers and Ranchers Perform a Public Service

October 2, 2015Blog No Comments

By Congressman Chris Gibson (NY-19) The average age of the American farmer is 58, and farmers over the age of 65 outnumber farmers under the age of 35 by a margin of six to one. As the majority of our farmers near retirement, we will need at least 100,000 new farmers to take their place. … Read More

Cooperatives: A Tool for Empowering Rural America

October 1, 2015Blog No Comments

 By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union October is National Cooperative Month, a point on the calendar when more than 29,000 cooperatives from across the nation undertake some form of educational outreach to ensure that people better understand the cooperative business model and how it can improve life for rural Americans. And cooperatives are more … Read More

More Than $3 Million of Taxpayer Funds Spent to Clean Up Smithfield

September 27, 2015Blog No Comments

By Barbara Patterson, government relations representative, National Farmers Union The town of Smithfield, Virginia, located in the southeast part of the state, has a long history of animal production. The famous Smithfield ham, a product with a geographical indicator that requires all of its production be done within the city limits, originated in the town … Read More

Thanks to USDA for Investing in Biofuels

September 22, 2015Blog No Comments

By Tom Driscoll, government relations representative, National Farmers Union The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently took important steps in building climate resiliency, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to pay attention. Climate change jeopardizes the security of the global food system and the viability of family farms and rural communities. Farmers and ranchers … Read More

As Crop Prices Drop, Producer Resiliency and Farm Programs to Be Tested

September 1, 2015Blog No Comments

 By Zack Clark, government relations representative, National Farmers Union The August release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) World Supply and Demand (WASDE) report drove low crop prices lower on the news of higher than expected production after a particularly wet spring in parts of the Midwest. Sustained low prices are impacting the rural … Read More