Stories

Despite concerns already being voiced by critics that little, if anything, will result from joint U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture workshops on competition in agriculture, one Missouri producer believes the meetings will make a difference.
“I’m convinced, Mr. Secretary, that this is not a dog and pony show,” hog farmer Jim Foster told [...]

“Farmers are in a daily battle to defend what we do,” said Pam Johnson, a farmer from Lloyd.

One of the largest areas of contention surrounding today’s agriculture antitrust workshop series has been the apparent lack of adequate opportunities for live public comment. Although the public has been able to submit written comment to federal officials for some time, many felt there was a need to publicly make comment at the workshop itself [...]

The first assembled panel at the joint DOJ and USDA workshops on competition in agriculture is predominantly comprised of elected officials. As such, it should likely come as little surprise that those providing remarks are keeping their personal opinions to themselves, and are instead focusing on the importance of the workshop series.

“We are here today to make sure that the voices of everyday people are heard loud and clear and send a simple but powerful message to our government regulators and elected officials,” said Barb Kalbach, a fourth generation family farmer from Dexter and board member for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.

In defending his push for an executive order halting the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats mistakenly pointed to an order signed by former Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack that was challenged but eventually upheld by the courts.

State and national officials will be in Ankeny on March 12 for the beginning of an unprecedented series of workshops on competition in the agricultural industry.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture announced last year that they would jointly host the series on a wide range of topics of interest in the agricultural [...]

Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor and now U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, joined forces with Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster for a public service announcement intended to help children and their parents make healthier food choices.

A great piece in The Washington Times Tuesday reveals a remarkable degree of hypocrisy from some GOP critics of last year’s $787 billion economic stimulus bill.

The nation’s struggling dairy farmers received a $290 million boost from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thursday.
The department is implementing a new program, the Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Program, which was authorized by the 2010 agriculture appropriations bill and will provide loss assistance payments to eligible dairy farmers.