NAWG and 25 other agricultural producer and processor groups wrote Senators this week to provide detailed comments on pending food safety legislation.

The House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research held a hearing Thursday to review progress toward commercialization of advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held three days of hearings with 54 witnesses this week on climate change legislation.

Grower-leaders from NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates met in Snowbird, Utah, this week for a round of fall meetings that concluded Friday.

The Wheat Foods Council announced this week the launch of How Wheat Works, an interactive, online multimedia program that aims to educate users about the wheat growing process and wheat products’ nutritional value.

NAWG, U.S. Wheat Associates and other representatives of commodities frequently given as food aid wrote the Foreign Agricultural Service this week to comment on areas of concern regarding implementation of a local and regional purchase (LRP) pilot program.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates there are 1.02 billion malnourished people in the world, meaning that almost one sixth of all humanity is suffering from hunger.

Research and biotechnology’s introduction into the wheat crop dominated discussions at the third session of the Wheat Summit, held this week in Kansas City.

The third Wheat Summit meeting in as many years will take place next week in Kansas City, Mo., gathering leaders from throughout the wheat chain to discuss ongoing competitiveness issues facing the crop and movement in the area of wheat research.

USDA officially launched the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) this week with speeches from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology John Holdren at the National Press Club.

Both the House and Senate approved the agriculture appropriations conference report this week, making it the second funding bill to go to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Visitors to www.wheatworld.org, NAWG’s online home, will notice a new and refreshed look, debuted Thursday.

House and Senate conferees met Wednesday to finalize an agreement on the agricultural appropriations bill. The conference report will now go to the floors of both the House and Senate for final approval, with House action expected early next week.

NAWG Chief Executive Officer Daren Coppock announced his resignation Friday. He will become president and chief executive officer of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) as of Jan. 1, 2010.