The NGFA will present a virtual conference – CEC Replay – on June 17 in partnership with Grain Journal. NGFA members gathered almost six months ago in Indianapolis, Ind., for the 48th annual Country Elevator Conference and Tradeshow (“Elevate Your Business”). At this halfway point between last year’s and this year’s CEC, NGFA will offer an afternoon of session rebroadcasts, live Q&A with several session speakers, updates to information presented last December, and a chance to connect with fellow attendees, exhibitors and the CEC experience. The CEC Replay webinar is free to ... Read More
Newsletter
NGFA advocacy during the pandemic: Focusing on Zoom
By Bobby Frederick, Vice President of Legislative Affairs and Public Policy During a normal spring and summer, NGFA and its members are zooming through the halls of Capitol Hill to meet with legislators, grow relationships with congressional staff, and advocate for key industry priorities during one of the association’s two annual fly-ins to Washington, D.C. However, with the nation’s capital still under a stay-at-home order and access to the House and Senate office buildings highly restricted, NGFA is “zooming” between video meetings and phone calls with legislators. This week, ... Read More
STB solicits additional stakeholder input on reforming process for challenging unreasonable rail rates
By Randy Gordon, President and CEO The federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) on May 15 published a decision waiving its general ban on ex parte communications with its commissioners to encourage informal discussions with stakeholders on the agency’s proposal to implement a so-called “final offer rate review” procedure in an effort to streamline and make its rail rate-challenge process more accessible to rail users, particularly smaller shippers. In its decision, the agency also said it was seeking other ideas from stakeholders on ways to improve its rate-challenge process. ... Read More
NGFA submits statement to CFTC on speculative position limits rule
As reported in last week’s NGFA Newsletter, the association on May 15 submitted a formal statement to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on the agency’s proposed rule implementing speculative position limits. The NGFA statement was filed too late that day to include a link in the newsletter; it can be accessed here. See the May 15 article for a more detailed description of the contents of the NGFA statement. The CFTC now will analyze numerous comments submitted by the public and incorporate changes before proceeding to a vote on a final rule. It is ... Read More
NGFA supports changes to COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program to provide more flexibility for small businesses
By Randy Gordon, President and CEO The NGFA on May 21 joined 135 other national trade organization in a U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led effort urging Congress and the Trump administration to provide more flexibility for businesses to utilize funds provided under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to the bipartisan leadership of both the House and Senate, as well as to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza, the NGFA and other groups urged that the Congress adopt ... Read More
USDA announces up to $1 billion in loan guarantees
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced May 21 that it is making available up to $1 billion in loan guarantees “to help rural businesses meet their working capital needs during the coronavirus pandemic.” Agricultural producers who are not eligible for USDA Farm Service Agency loans may receive funding under USDA’s Business & Industry (B&I) CARES Act Program provisions, which were included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, USDA said. In addition to expanding eligibility to certain agricultural producers, the changes announced this week ... Read More
USDA announces details of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
By Max Fisher, Vice President of Economics and Government Relations Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on May 19 announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers and $3 billion in funds for the purchase and delivery of fresh produce, dairy, and meat and deliver boxes to Americans in need. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) estimates that the $16 billion will be divided among the following commodity sectors: $3.5 billion to producers of field crops ... Read More
Lawmakers seek funding to help “humanely” euthanize pigs
By Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media The shutdown of meat and poultry processing facilities across the country because of the spread of COVID-19 among thousands of meatpacking workers has left many farmers without anywhere to sell their livestock. “The crisis is immediate,” wrote a bipartisan group of lawmakers in a May 11 letter to House and Senate leaders. The situation is “creating an animal welfare crisis due to overcrowding and the challenge of providing enough feed and water available to each animal,” the letter noted. “Failure to have a sensible and ... Read More
NGFA and Grain Journal to present COVID-19 webinar on workplace safety rules with Eric Conn on May 20
NGFA and Grain Journal on May 20 will present a second webinar focused on the implications of COVID-19 for the grain, feed, processing and export industry. Featuring Eric J. Conn, chair of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) practice group at Conn Maciel Carey LLP, the webinar will examine the workplace safety implications of OSHA’s recently issued “Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19,” which defines risk categories and provides recommendations on how to protect employees. Conn is a widely recognized and respected expert on OSHA and safety and health ... Read More
NGFA’s Fairfield named to FSPCA Executive Advisory Board
David Fairfield, NGFA’s senior vice president of feed, has been elected from a pool of more than 80 candidates to serve as a member of the nine-member Executive Advisory Board (EAB) of the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA). He is one of only two members from the animal food sector; the other is Chris Lincecum, feed safety director for NGFA-member Cooperative Farmers Elevator in Ocheyedan, Iowa. Created in 2015, the FSCPCA is internationally recognized as the trusted source for curricula, training programs, and outreach for the prevention-oriented standards of the Food ... Read More
National Grain and Feed Association
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