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House and Senate Easily Pass Farm Bill Conference Report
(05-16-08) -- The farm bill conference report flew through the House and Senate this week with more than veto-proof margins.
Groups Defend Ethanol, Renewable Fuels Standard
(05-16-08) -- Agriculture and renewable fuel representatives shot back at ethanol critics at a House Small Business Committee hearing on food prices and small businesses, held Thursday.
Word on Wheat: Veto Override Final Step on A Long Road
(05-16-08) -- While there’s great evidence we are nearing the end of this multi-year process, the biggest votes are still before us: the veto override votes.
NAWG Supports Approval of Conference Report
(05-12-08) -- NAWG supports and will advocate for Congressional approval of the farm bill conference report. We urge President Bush to sign the bill when it reaches his desk but, if he does not, we urge Congress to override his veto.
Farm Bill Compromise Reached, But Faces Veto
(05-09-08) -- Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer confirmed Thursday that the farm bill will be vetoed, just hours after Congressional leaders announced a farm bill agreement in a laudatory press conference.
NAWG and NWIC Write Members on Ug99 Funding
(05-09-08) -- NAWG and the National Wheat Improvement Committee (NWIC) sent letters to every Member of Congress Wednesday urging restored funding for the international research centers that are the first line of defense against Ug99.
Senators Send Dueling Letters on RFS Modifications
(05-09-08) -- Letters flew on the Hill this week about a renewable fuels standard (RFS) approved last December calling for 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022, including 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol.
More Details Needed On Conference Compromise
(05-08-08) -- The National Association of Wheat Growers will not comment on its support or lack of support for the farm bill conference compromise announced this afternoon until more details, including report language, are available for review.
FB Conference Committee Meets, Finishes Most Items
(05-02-08) -- After months of delay and weeks of heavy negotiations, House and Senate farm bill conferees met Thursday night and approved the vast majority of farm bill provisions.
Cleavinger Testifies on Rail Before House Small Business
(05-02-08) -- NAWG President David Cleavinger testified Thursday before the House Small Business Committee about problems wheat growers continue to face when utilizing the nation's railways.
Word on Wheat: Ug99 Puts Lives, Food Security In Danger
(05-02-08) -- Pop quiz: who in history has probably saved more lives than anyone else? And what did he or she do for a living?
Farm Bill Extended Again As
Negotiations Continue
(04-25-08) -- Farm bill negotiations continued this week, with a final deal on funding and offsets rumored to be near conclusion.
McReynolds Participates in Commodity Futures Forum
(04-25-08) -- NAWG Second Vice President Jerry McReynolds participated in a day-long forum Tuesday before the Commodity Futures Trade Commission.
House Small Business Announces Hearing on Rail
(04-25-08) -- The House Committee on Small Business announced this week that it will hold a hearing next week on rail transportation access for farmers and small business.
Farm Bill Conferees Meet; Short Term Extension Passes
(04-18-08) -- House and Senate farm bill conferees continued to meet this week to try to hammer out differences in the House- and Senate-passed versions of the bill.
Administration Announces Release of Wheat from Trust
(04-18-08) -- President George W. Bush ordered USDA this week to make available an estimated $200 million in emergency food aid through the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.
Prices, Ug99 Topics at Food Aid Conference
(04-18-08) -- USDA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) presented their annual International Food Aid Conference this week in Kansas City.
House Appoints FB Conferees; First Conference Meeting Held
(04-11-08) -- With a looming deadline to complete new farm policy, House leaders announced the chamber’s conferees for the 2008 Farm Bill Wednesday night, just hours before conferees from both chambers met officially for the first time on Thursday morning.
Dems Vote to Remove Colombia Agreement Deadline
(04-11-08) -- Prospects for passage of the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement in this legislative session dimmed a bit more this week after the Bush Administration sent legislative language to the Hill, and House Democrats responded by removing the time limit for consideration of the agreement.
World Taps U.S. Supplies; Higher Plantings Seen
(04-11-08) -- In its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) release this week, USDA ratcheted up its estimate for U.S. wheat exports in 2007/08 to the highest level since 1992/93.
Funding Issues Remain Problematic For Farm Bill
(04-04-08) -- Funding and funding mechanisms continued to hold up significant movement on the farm bill this week though Congressional staff have reportedly made progress on policy issues.
Groups Write Congress on Urgent Need for CGIAR Funds
(04-04-08) -- NAWG and other grain-interested organizations wrote key Members of Congress this week urging action to ensure appropriate funding for the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
Renewable Groups Respond to Time Mag Biofuels Attack
(04-04-08) -- The 25x’25 National Steering Committee responded forcefully this week to a Time magazine cover story attacking biofuels with a variety of misleading and spurious assertions.
Word on Wheat: Food Prices No Reason to Cut Farm Policy
(04-04-08) -- As has been the case throughout this entire farm bill process, problems with money remain the big sticking points and, once again, we are seeing a lot of Members, especially those who don’t have a lot of farming in their districts, look to the commodity title as an ATM.
Growers Offer Concerns, Ideas on Futures Market
(04-03-08) -- Two NAWG grower-leaders told market participants and overseers Thursday that the commodity futures market is not reflecting market fundamentals, posing risks to local elevators and the producers who utilize them.
Farm Bill Framework Cuts Title I to Fund Other Areas
(03-28-08) -- Despite the ongoing Easter Recess, Washington was hopping with farm bill action this week, with a new funding framework emerging that could further cut funds from the commodity title.
Coalition Asks Members to Reject Food Aid Proposals
(03-28-08) -- NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates recently joined other groups interested in food aid in asking Members of Congress to reject Administration proposals that would eliminate the food aid “safebox” and allow up to 25 percent of food aid monies to be used for local or regional purchase of food.
Wheat Harvest Preview Seen on America’s Heartland Web Site
(03-28-08) -- As wheat growers across the country look forward to harvest, rural and urban viewers alike can learn about the process online on the America’s Heartland Web site.
Farm Bill Title Allocations Offered And Rejected
(03-21-08) -- Congress was out of town on Easter Recess this week, but farm bill negotiations and disagreements continued in Washington.
NAWG Staff Continues Making the Rounds on Ug99 Funding
(03-21-08) -- NAWG and North American Millers’ Association staff met with Gale Buchanan, the undersecretary for research, education and economics at USDA, and Edward Knipling, the administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, this week to discuss research funding needed to combat Ug99.
Word on Wheat: Preparing to Embrace Change That Comes
(03-21-08) -- Thinking back the other day, I recalled conversations that I had with my grandfather about how farming used to be. My grandfather lived from 1905 to 1990, and what he witnessed in his lifetime astounds me.
Short Term Extension Passes Before Congress Takes Recess
(03-14-08) -- The House and Senate passed a short-term extension of some parts of the 2002 Farm Bill this week, allowing negotiators an extra month to complete a new version of federal farm policy.
Schwab Says Colombia Agreement Headed to the Hill
(03-14-08) -- United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab said this week that the Bush Administration plans to send the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement to Congress soon after the two-week Easter Recess.
Grower Groups Assert Importance of Open Markets
(03-14-08) -- The staff leaders of NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates issued a statement this week reiterating their organizations’ opposition to any government interference in wheat exports and to early releases of land from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) without contractual penalties.
Open Markets Essential for U.S. Wheat Growers
(03-12-08) -- While the U.S. wheat industry understands the concerns of bakers and other flour users who have not forward contracted to meet their flour needs, we must respectfully disagree with them on how best to handle trade and CRP contract policy.
Farm Bill Still Ongoing As Extension Nears An End
(03-07-08) -- Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees reportedly have started meeting about funding allocations for farm bill titles after a week of mini-breakthroughs and continued discussion about appropriate funding levels.
Wheat Research Priorities Emphasized in Congress
(03-07-08) -- A delegation of wheat scientists, growers and millers made the rounds on Capitol Hill this week to emphasize priority funding needs for wheat research.
NAWG Taking Applications for Summer Internship Program
(03-07-08) -- The 2008 NAWG summer internship program application is now available from the NAWG office and online at wheatworld.org.
Word on Wheat: Addressing Challenges in the Industry
(03-07-08) -- This year is certain to hold the unexpected for wheat growers. Markets, world affairs and the always-present threat of natural disasters all make for uncertainty.
Farm Bill Progress Slow Even With Likely Funding Deal
(02-29-08) -- It appears that a tentative farm bill funding agreement was reached this week between House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders and the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.
Growers Converge in Nashville While D.C. Talks Farm Bill
(02-29-08) -- While farm bill discussions continued in Washington this week, wheat growers from around the country arrived in Nashville, Tenn., for the 2008 Commodity Classic.
NAWG Research Committee Hears About Ug99 Spread
(02-29-08) -- Ug99, a virulent stem rust that could affect most wheat varieties in the United States and elsewhere in the world, has spread across the Arabian Peninsula to Iran, Dr. Jim Peterson, chair of the National Wheat Improvement Committee (NWIC), reported to the NAWG Research and Technology Committee this week.
Impact of Lieberman-Warner Seen in Economic Modeling
(02-29-08) -- An economic analysis of S. 2191 - more commonly known as the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 - using a Department of Energy (DOE) model shows minimal macro-economic impact and agriculture offsets as one key to holding down the cost.
Congress In Recess But Farm Bill Discussions Continue
(02-22-08) -- Negotiations on farm bill funding levels continued this week despite Congress’ recess for Presidents’ Day.
NAWG, USW Write USDA on Wheat Export Questions
(02-22-08) -- NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates wrote Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer Friday asking him to stay firm in his commitment to free market principles in response to suggestions that the federal government intervene in wheat exports to address domestic shortages.
Letter: Industry Supports Doha, Needs Market Access
(02-22-08) -- NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates wrote the agriculture envoy to the Doha Round negotiations at the World Trade Organization this week reiterating support for the Round but once again voicing concern about the level of reciprocal market access that is being proposed.
Word on Wheat: Warm Day in Montana and Ideas on GHGs
(02-22-08) -- The thermometer reads 61 degrees, not warm enough to melt the foot and a half of ice on the lake, but definitely not a typical day for mid-February in north-central Montana.
Funding Number for Farm Bill Expected This Weekend
(02-15-08) -- House and Senate leaders are expected to agree this weekend on a final funding number for the farm bill after a week of public and private disputes over what that number should be and how it should be determined.
Ag Groups Ask Congress to Reject GSM-102 Proposal
(02-15-08) -- NAWG, U.S. Wheat Associates and 20 other agricultural groups wrote Members of Congress this week urging them to reject a pending farm bill proposal that would cut the maximum length of time for which USDA’s GSM-102 export credit guarantees can be provided.
Scientists Respond to Flawed Assumptions in Biofuels Report
(02-15-08) -- In a recent letter to the journal Science, two scientists point out seriously flawed assumptions in a study claiming ethanol could result in twice the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as gasoline because of previously unaccounted for land-use changes.
NAWG Board Approves Vision, Mission At Winter Meeting
(02-08-08) -- The NAWG Board of Directors approved new vision and mission statements for the organization at its meeting Wednesday, along with a series of strategy statements and a number of other key committee recommendations.
Senate Names Conferees While Bush Threatens Farm Bill Veto
(02-08-08) -- Another week has gone by in Washington, D.C., with no action on the farm bill, though conversations between House and Senate Members and staff are continuing.
Incoming Board Members Get Leadership, Media Training
(02-08-08) -- Nine growers participated last week in the two-day 2008 Wheat Organization Leaders of the Future (WOLF) leadership program, held in Washington, D.C., in advance of NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates meetings.
Word on Wheat: Higher Prices + Higher Costs = Higher Risk
(02-08-08) -- But while many in agriculture have a case of high-price fever, it’s important to pause and recognize the increased risk that has come with higher prices, and how that risk makes it even more important to have a long-term federal farm policy.
Schafer Confirmed As New Ag Secretary In Time for SOTU
(02-01-08) -- The Senate approved former North Dakota governor Ed Schafer as the new Secretary of Agriculture by unanimous consent Monday, allowing him to be sworn into office in time to attend his first and only State of the Union address by President George W. Bush.
Trade On the Minds of Many, But Little Agreement Seen
(02-01-08) -- Pending trade agreements and the ongoing Doha Round of WTO negotiations were on the minds of many in Washington this week, gaining mentions in the State of the Union speech, a tough response from a key Senate leader and support from commodity groups, including wheat.
DOE Gives Money to Small-Scale Cellulosic Projects
(02-01-08) -- The Department of Energy announced this week that it is awarding $114 million to help build four small-scale cellulosic ethanol refineries that will experiment with feedstocks and new processing technologies.
Senate Ag Holds Nomination Hearing for New Ag Secretary
(01-25-08) -- The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee held hearing this week to examine the nomination of former North Dakota governor Ed Schafer to be the next Secretary of Agriculture.
Groups Write Opposing USDA Beneficial Interest Proposal
(01-25-08) -- A coalition of farm groups wrote to leaders of the Congressional agriculture committees late last week asking them to reject USDA requests to require producers to lose beneficial interest in their commodities when they receive a marketing loan gain (MLG) or a loan deficiency payment (LDP) under the marketing loan program.
Word on Wheat: Stability and Stimulus in Rural America
(01-25-08) -- Those of us in the farm community have been working on a slightly different kind of economic stimulus package for awhile, a law commonly known as the farm bill.
Molasses in January: Major Issues Remain for Farm Bill
(01-18-08) -- The farm bill pace in Washington is moving, but its rate of speed is similar to that of molasses flowing in January.
Preprocessing, Financing Key At Biofuels Discussion
(01-18-08) -- NAWG Director of Science and Technology Barry Morton participated Tuesday in a colloquy designed to examine the issues related to the commercial production of biofuels from biomass feedstocks.
No Penalty-Free Early Out for CRP Acres in 2008 Crop Year
(01-18-08) -- Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner indicated this week that there will be no penalty-free early outs for Conservation Reserve Program acres in the 2008 growing season.
Word on Wheat: Looking to the Future – With Vision
(01-11-08) -- NAWG Board members and officers took time out during the first weekend of this new year to do something we do all the time – think about the future – strategically.
Growers Gather to Consider NAWG’s Mission and Vision
(01-11-08) -- A meeting of NAWG stakeholders held last weekend in Dallas resulted in proposed vision and mission statements, a set of factors critical to the organization’s success and four areas for particular focus when allocating time and staff resources.
Switchgrass Found to Be Extremely Energy Efficient
(01-11-08) -- A large, on-farm study out this week from the University of Nebraska shows switchgrass grown for biofuel production produced 540 percent more energy than needed to grow, harvest and process it into cellulosic ethanol.
Disaster Deadline Pushed Back to End of 2007 in Omnibus Bill
(01-04-08) -- The cut-off date for agricultural disaster assistance programs approved last year was extended in the omnibus appropriations measure to Dec. 31, 2007.
2007 Ag Census Forms Mailed to Producers Late Last Week
(01-04-08) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture began mailing 2007 Census of Agriculture forms to producers late last week.
Classic Early Registration Deadline Fast Approaching
(01-04-08) -- Early registration for Commodity Classic 2008 ends in less than two weeks, on Jan. 16.
Energy Bill With RFS Passes House, Gets Bush’s Signature
(12-21-07) -- Compromise energy legislation that will require 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2022 was approved by the House and signed by President George W. Bush this week.
Congress Finishes 2007 With Omnibus Funding Bill
(12-21-07) -- Congress left town this week after passing an omnibus spending measure that, when signed, will fund the government for fiscal year 2008.
Classic Trade Show to Be the Biggest Ever with 840 Booths
(12-21-07) -- The 2008 Commodity Classic trade show will be the largest in Classic history with 213 companies exhibiting in 840 booths, organizers announced this week.
NAWG Pleased to See Senate Farm Bill Passage
(12-14-07) -- Statement from John Thaemert, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, regarding the Senate’s passage of its version of the 2007 Farm Bill.
At Long Last, Senate Passes Farm Bill By 79 to 14 Vote
(12-14-07) -- The Senate passed its version of the 2007 Farm Bill Friday afternoon by a 79 to 14 vote after nearly two months of fits-and-starts consideration.
Energy Bill Compromise With Strong RFS Passes Senate
(12-14-07) -- Energy legislation containing an increased renewable fuel standard (RFS) of 36 billion gallons by 2022 and a 40 percent increase in vehicle fuel efficiency standards passed the Senate Thursday evening by an 86-8 vote.
U.S. to Supply 1/3 of Imports; Stocks Fall to Record Low
(12-14-07) -- With production problems limiting supplies in every major exporter, U.S. wheat exports are expected to account for 31 percent of global trade – an outcome that will squeeze ending stocks down to bare minimums and sustain record high wheat prices.
Word on Wheat: Where the Farm Bill Will Really Get Done
(12-14-07) -- There’s no time like the present to reiterate some important priorities for conference.
Amendment Agreement Reached; Debate Starts Again
(12-07-07) -- After nearly another week of inactivity on the 2007 Farm Bill, a deal was announced in the Senate Thursday that should move the bill forward with up to 20 amendments offered from each side of the aisle.
Senate Approves U.S.-Peru Trade Agreement 77-18
(12-07-07) -- The Senate approved the U.S.-Peru trade promotion agreement Tuesday by a 77-18 vote. The measure, passed by the House last month, is expected to be signed by President George W. Bush shortly.
Letter to Appropriators Asks for Release of Trade Funds
(12-07-07) -- NAWG, U.S. Wheat Associates and 35 other agricultural groups wrote lead agriculture appropriators Friday asking them to explicitly include funding for trade promotion programs in the next continuing resolution or omnibus appropriations bill.
Congress Back Next Week, But Action Items Remain Unclear
(11-30-07) -- Congress is scheduled to be back in session next week but what Members will be considering - and when - remains unclear.
Groups Write OMB on Export Program Funding Hold-Ups
(11-30-07) -- NAWG, U.S. Wheat Associates and 30 other agricultural organizations wrote the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week urging him to release funds for a number of agricultural export programs.
Word on Wheat: Call Congress - We Need a Farm Bill
(11-30-07) -- Those of us who have an interest in farm policy and farm politics have watched each twist and turn of this process with both intrigue and concern, knowing the longer the farm bill process is delayed, the more dicey it becomes for both producers and consumers.
Work in Washington Continues While Congress Out For Recess
(11-21-07) -- Advocacy work continued in Washington this week even as Congress returned home – sans 2007 Farm Bill - for a two-week long Thanksgiving Recess.
Registration, Hotel Booking Window Open for 2008 Classic
(11-21-07) -- Thinking ahead is the key for wheat, corn and soybean growers planning to attend the 2008 Commodity Classic in Nashville, Tenn.
America’s Heartland Showcases Wheat Issues, Areas
(11-21-07) -- Midway through its third season, the hosts and crew of America’s Heartland have achieved their goal of visiting all 50 states and, according to Heartland Executive Producer Jim Finnerty, many of those stories focus on the challenges and successes of American grain farmers.
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