Federal

From NAWG With the closing of the 2018 midterm elections, National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) president and Oklahoma wheat grower Jimmie Musick has issued the following statement: “While the 2018 midterm elections brought change to the political makeup of Congress, this should not impact the priority of passing the 2018 Farm Bill by the end of this session of ... Read More »

This week, WAWG leaders have been participating in the National Association of Wheat Growers’ (NAWG) and U.S. Wheat Associates’ (USW) joint fall conference in Tampa, Fla.  They, along with more than 100 wheat growers from across the U.S., met in policy committees to discuss a wide variety of priorities including the farm bill, trade, the National Wheat Yield Contest and the 2018 ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The Pacific rim trade pact abandoned by President Donald Trump will take effect at the year’s end after Australia became the sixth nation to ratify it. Australia announced today that it had completed procedures needed for the trade arrangement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, to progress. It will take effect Dec. 30. Read the rest ... Read More »

From agriculture.com The Trump administration will begin a second, multibillion-dollar round of payments to soybean, cotton, pork, dairy, sorghum, wheat and corn producers by December, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From Politico President Donald Trump’s trade war is already prompting farmers and agricultural forecasters to plan for a dismal 2019 growing season before the fall harvest is complete. Trade disputes — namely the escalating feud with China — have weighed on commodity prices and the president has threatened to ratchet up tariffs rather than ease tensions come Jan. 1. To ... Read More »

From whitehouse.gov Today, President Trump signed a memorandum to reduce regulatory burdens and promote more efficient environmental reviews of water infrastructure projects in the West, including the Columbia-Snake River System. Decades of uncoordinated regulatory actions have diminished the ability of Federal infrastructure to deliver needed water and have increased costs in the West. Court actions dictating water operations have further complicated ... Read More »

At the direction of the president, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer recently notified Congress that the Trump Administration intends to negotiate three separate trade agreements with Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom. In officially notifying Congress, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is following the procedures set out in the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of ... Read More »

From farmdocdaily.illinois.edu The conservation title is traditionally one of the least controversial and partisan of the major, mandatory funding titles in a farm bill debate; that the conservation title is part of the current stalemate adds to the concerns about the 2018 Farm Bill. The House version of the farm bill eliminates the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) (farmdoc daily, July ... Read More »

Major farm groups along with commodity and conservation organizations are calling on Congress to finish the farm bill this year. Among those is the National Association of Wheat Growers. NAWG President Jimmie Musick, an Oklahoma grower, is hoping the final legislation gets approved yet this year. Musick sat down for an interview with WNAX Radio. Listen to it here. Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers Last week, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue announced farm program payments for the 2017 crop year through the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, which were both created in the 2014 Farm Bill, have now gone out to producers. These safety net programs provide ... Read More »