Some of the most helpful tax preferences for farmers and ranchers are up for review in the 2016 Washington state legislative session. Many have received preliminary recommendations from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to be further reviewed and clarified. The tax credits for diesel fuel used on farms and for farm machinery replacement parts are among the ... Read More »
By Keva Herron Guszkowski WAWG Policy Director The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is important to many wheat farmers because it helps them address natural resource concerns, such as water and air quality, soil erosion, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, wildlife habitat preservation and emergency response for natural disasters. CRP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency ... Read More »
From Agri-Pulse In a blow to the Obama administration, a judicial panel has refused to consolidate a series of legal challenges against the new rule re-defining the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. Advertisement Lawyers for the administration were seeking to move the nine lawsuits, now pending in seven circuit courts, to the District of Columbia. A North Dakota judge ... Read More »
From agweb.com A federal appeals court on Friday morning said that the U.S. government could not begin implementing the controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule that governs what waterways are subject to federal Clean Water Act permits and which waterways are not. “This is great news for cattlemen and women and all land users who have been at a loss ... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a series of fact sheets illustrating how the newly reached Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement can boost the U.S. agriculture industry, supporting more American jobs and driving the nation’s rural economy. Created by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the fact sheets graphically depict how each state and individual commodities stand to benefit from ... Read More »
Entries are now being accepted for the first National Wheat Yield Contest in more than 20 years. The National Wheat Foundation (NWF) announced the official contest rules and opened registration on their website today for the inaugural year of the contest. The highly anticipated yield competition, first unveiled at the 2015 Commodity Classic, is made possible by the generous support of ... Read More »
Their marketing might suggest Patagonia can create a Better Sweater®, but that doesn’t make them experts when it comes to the Snake Columbia River System. Efforts by the California-based clothing company to reinvigorate the dam breaching debate with its Oct. 3 flotilla protest not only goes against the last dozen years of scientific studies by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ... Read More »
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, President Obama signed into law HR 2051, the Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015, which reauthorizes the Grain Standards Act (GSA). The bill also extended the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 and authorized appropriations for the National Forest Foundation. The GSA component of the bill requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Federal Grain Inspection Service to immediately take ... Read More »
From AgWeb.com If you’re wondering if there’s anything you need to know about the current budget battles in Congress, the answer is yes. If the House and Senate can’t reach an agreement on the federal budget—or more likely, a continuing resolution to fund the government while they hammer out a budget—by Sept. 30, the federal government will shut down on ... Read More »
Today, the Washington Department of Ecology formally began writing a rule that would require the state’s largest polluters to reduce their greenhouse gases. Ecology is considering businesses and organizations that are responsible for producing 100,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases be covered under the rule. The types of businesses include: · Natural gas distributors · Petroleum fuel producers ... Read More »
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