Federal

From U.S. Wheat Associates On March 21, 2021, Canadian Pacific (CP) Railways announced a $25 billion plan to merge with Kansas City Southern (KCS), calling it a “transformative” remake of the freight-rail industry. The proposed new railroad would be the first U.S.-Mexico-Canada-linked rail line. Not to be out-done, Canadian National Railway (CN) began talks with KCS in late April, saying ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The Biden administration has released a report outlining its vision to conserve and restore land, water and wildlife with recommendations for locally led, voluntary efforts to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. The 24-page report outlining the administration’s “America the Beautiful” initiative recognizes the contributions of farmers, ranchers, forest owners, private landowners and ... Read More »

The National Association of Wheat Growers joined the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and more than 300 agricultural organizations to call on Congress to invest $11.5 billion in the federal agricultural research infrastructure at colleges of agriculture. In the letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees, the groups wrote, “Modern agricultural research ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers Last night, Pres. Joseph Biden delivered his remarks before a Joint Session of Congress. National Association of Wheat growers (NAWG) CEO Chandler Goule provided the following statement in response: “While the president addressed many issues of importance to the American people, we are eager to hear more about agricultural-related policies, specifically how we ... Read More »

From Progressive Farmer While Senate Democrats are confident about the ability to get a bipartisan agricultural climate bill passed, the rift remains with Republicans over USDA’s authority to spend money on a carbon sequestration program without getting approval from Congress first. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

Climate legislation is happening at all levels of government. In the last few weeks, multiple leaders in Congress have introduced legislation to address the issue. The first piece of legislation, the Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act, was introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.). The legislation would establish a grant program to help producers adopt conservation and climate practices and ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers Today, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) launched their new Special Climate and Sustainability Committee. The committee will work together to review wheat sustainability issues and guide the development of NAWG policy priorities on climate  policy. “Wheat growers are having a positive impact on the environment and have increased resource-efficient practices in ... Read More »

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will open enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with higher payment rates, new incentives and a more targeted focus on the program’s role in climate change mitigation. Additionally, USDA is announcing investments in partnerships to increase climate-smart agriculture, including $330 million in 85 Regional Conservation Partnership ... Read More »

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) Chief Executive Officer, Chandler Goule, announced yesterday that Mariah Wollweber has been hired as the organization’s new Director of Communications and Partnerships, effective Monday, April 19, 2021. Wollweber is a fifth-generation wheat farmer from Washington state. Growing up in a farming family, she was able to see how policies and practices impacted the ... Read More »

From the Capital Press On Feb. 24 Tom Vilsack took the oath of office as the 32nd Secretary of Agriculture.It’s Vilsack’s second time as chief of the USDA. He previously served eight years in the same role in the Obama administration. Vilsack, 70, is also the former governor of Iowa, and most recently was president of the U.S. Dairy Export ... Read More »