By Max Fisher, Vice President, Economics and Government Relations The U.S.-China economic and trade agreement signed on Jan. 15 at a White House ceremony contains significant specific commitments, time deadlines and enforcement metrics designed to provide more predictable trade between the two countries, as well as commitments by China to purchase at least $80 billion of U.S. food, agricultural and seafood products by the end of calendar year 2021. NGFA Chairman Eric Wilkey, president of Arizona Grain Inc., Casa Grande, Ariz., was among agricultural industry leaders who accepted ... Read More
Newsletter
U.S., Japan and EU urge reforms of WTO subsidy trading rules
During a busy trade-focused week, the United States, European Union and Japan agreed to propose reform of the World Trade Organization’s trading rules to curb distortive subsidies. Following a meeting in Washington, trade ministers for the three countries – Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Kajiyama Hiroshi, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan – issued a joint statement that the WTO’s existing trading rules were insufficient to address market distortions resulting from government subsidies. The joint statement was the result of nearly ... Read More
KSU launches new program for risk management professionals
The Center for Risk Management Education and Research at Kansas State University unveiled a new executive education program designed for professionals with risk management responsibility. The inaugural two-and-a-half-day conference will be conducted April 14-16 in Manhattan, Kan., and is targeted at senior-level executives and managers, especially in the food and beverage, food processing/manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, and pet food sectors. Detailed program and registration information can be found here. Now in its seventh year of operation, the center previously has focused ... Read More
USDA, FDA, EPA launch joint website for biotech regulation
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a Unified Website for Biotechnology Regulation on Jan. 9, where relevant background information and resources regarding the government’s regulatory policy on biotechnology products are housed. The website describes the federal review process for certain biotechnology-enhanced products and allows users to submit questions to the three agencies. USDA, FDA and EPA are the three regulatory agencies charged with overseeing agricultural biotechnology products ... Read More
New year, new WRDA: House subcommittee takes another step to update nation’s water infrastructure policy
By Bobby Frederick, Vice President of Legislative Affairs and Public Policy Congressional efforts to enact a biennial Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) continued this week as the House Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment conducted a hearing to discuss proposals for a 2020 reauthorization of the law. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, R.D. James – who in that capacity heads the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) – and the chief of engineers and commanding general for the Corps, Lieutenant General Todd Semonite, testified ... Read More
USDA releases CRP rental rates, grants higher rates to 121 counties
By Max Fisher, Vice President of Economics and Government Relations The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released the 2020 county average cash rental rates for non-irrigated cropland that will serve as the starting point for calculating rental rate offers for this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signups. The current CRP general signup is open until Feb. 28 and a CRP continuous signup is open and will be ongoing. Importantly, the 2018 farm law for the first time imposed statutory limits on rental rates, as advocated by NGFA. For the current CRP general signup, the CRP rental ... Read More
Timeline for Senate ratification vote on USMCA still murky
While the Senate Finance Committee easily approved the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) this week, the timing for a final ratification vote on the Senate floor remains unclear. The Senate committee approved the House-passed USMCA implementing legislation (H.R. 5430) by a 25-3 vote. Senate aides have said a full Senate vote on the accord likely will be delayed until after next week, since the legislation was referred to six other committees for review. “I look forward to a vote on the Senate floor, hopefully soon on final passage,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, ... Read More
OSHA: New resources available for hearing loss prevention
[Editor’s note: This article was submitted to NGFA by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.] Every year thousands of workers suffer from preventable hearing loss due to high workplace noise levels. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise every working day. In 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistic (BLS) reported that hearing loss for all industries nationwide was 1.4 per 10,000 full time workers. Hearing loss continues to be the most commonly recorded occupational illness in manufacturing, according to ... Read More
CAP applications due Jan. 10!
Submit your applications for the 2020-21 class of NGFA’s Committee Apprentice Program (CAP) by Friday, Jan. 10! CAP is designed to develop future leaders within the industry and the NGFA by allowing early-career professionals (ideally those with between three and seven years’ work experience) to become apprentices serving on NGFA committees. In addition to participating in their committee’s specific activities, CAPs attend the NGFA annual convention and make a trip to Washington, D.C., each spring for the “CAP DC Experience.” The CAP year runs one year – from one NGFA convention to the ... Read More
View the #CEC19 photo album
If you were among the 600 attendees at the NGFA’s 48th annual Country Elevator Conference and Trade Show in Indianapolis, Ind., in early December – or if you had to miss the event – check out the full photo album! The album features conference speakers, including Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, as well as candid shots of NGFA members enjoying the program and the more than 100 exhibitors in the trade show. ... Read More
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