Right-click on audio player below to download audio.Backed by Senate Democrats, a new plan to avoid sequester might be a viable option, according to Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey.The plan would eliminate direct payments and invest in disaster relief, saving a net...
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Court: Farmers could be liable for accidents
Right-click on audio player below to download audio.On February 15 the Iowa Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling by the Iowa Court of Appeals that essentially reversed the long-standing recreational use statute. Under the statute, owners of agricultural land were...
Senate plan skips sequester, drops direct payments
Right-click on audio player below to download audio.Last year the Senate determined that direct payments were best replaced with a more focused risk-coverage program, termed the Agricultural Risk Coverage or ARC program. While the House version of the farm bill opted...
China to produce 700 million hogs yearly
Right-click on the audio player below to download audio.In Friday's WASDE report, USDA lowered its soybean ending stocks for the 2012/2013 marketing year to just 125 million bushels. The estimate dropped by 10 million bushels from the January WASDE report due to...
Sign up begins for Century/Heritage Farm Program
Right-click on the audio player below to download audio.The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is encouraging eligible producers to take part in the Century and Heritage Farm program, which highlights the history behind Iowan agriculture. Sponsored by...
Critics say egg bill is slippery slope
Right-click on audio players below to download audio.With a renewed push for a federal egg bill regulating hen housing this year, including measures to effectively double the minimum living space for egg-laying hens, opposition remains very much the same as last...
A pathway to direct payments
Right-click on the audio player below to download audio.The future of direct payments is unclear. Both the Senate- and House Ag Committee-approved 2012 farm bills would've ended the $5 billion-per-year program, but the extension retained it. Groups such as the...
Renewed push for federal egg bill
Right click on the audio player below to download audio.With a new Congress has come new hopes for federal legislation normalizing hen housing standards. Atypical for reform in animal agriculture is the support of the industry itself - the United Egg Producers have...
Water rationing procedure unclear
Right-click on the audio player below to download audio.With Iowa DNR director Chuck Gipp warning that water rationing is on the table should the drought worsen, the possibility of a restricted water supply for at least part of 2013 is very real. However, as Iowa Ag...
IRFA: Food versus fuel is inaccurate
Right-click on the audio player below to download audio.Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw says the renewables industry has had to address several misconceptions over the use of cereal grains for ethanol, including the widespread belief...
