Federal

From NAWG Today, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing to discuss the Administration’s trade agenda and its FY18 budget request for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Members heard testimony from USTR Robert Lighthizer who spoke on the Administration’s top trade priorities and defended the Administration’s FY18 budget request. National Association of Wheat Growers’ (NAWG) ... Read More »

From DTN A panel of two farm organization advocates and two analysts of the farm program discussed crop insurance and commodity title provisions in the 2014 farm bill and prospects for the next bill on earlier this week at a Capitol Hill seminar entitled “U.S. Agricultural Risk Policy: Debating the Status Quo,” sponsored by the Charles Koch Institute. The panel discussion ... Read More »

From the Capital Press A U.S. Department of Commerce investigation into steel imports could open the door for other countries to retaliate by imposing restrictions on their purchases of commodities such as wheat, U.S. Wheat Associates officials say. Read the story here. Read More »

From the Capital Press Farmers and ranchers described a private meeting with two of President Donald Trump’s cabinet members June 2 as unprecedented and historic. Instead of addressing the group, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke listened and took notes, according to those who were there. “They just didn’t have an agenda. They truly wanted to ... Read More »

From USW’s 6/1 Wheat Letter Last week, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) expressed dismay that the Trump Administration’s proposed FY2018 budget calls for eliminating funding for the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program and would severely cut funding for food aid programs. These cuts and other proposed cuts to the farm safety net ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers On May 23, the Trump Administration released its FY2018 budget request, which makes significant cuts to several farm bill programs, including crop insurance, commodity programs, conservation programs, rural economic development and SNAP. Overall cuts to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs would total about $240 billion in mandatory spending over 10 years and ... Read More »

From the Capital Press President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate funding for two key federal programs used to promote U.S. wheat overseas, industry representatives say. Trump’s budget for the 2018 fiscal year would eliminate funding for the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Market Access Program, called MAP, and the Foreign Market Development program. In addition, it would severely cut funding ... Read More »

With the release of the Trump Administration’s FY 2018 budget proposal, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) expresses a great deal of concern over significant reductions to risk management programs, trade development programs, and more. WAWG President Ben Adams, a wheat grower from Coulee City, Wash., issued the following statement: “Risk management and market access programs are critical to ... Read More »

From NAWG On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the “State of the Rural Economy” with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue testifying. The hearing focused on a variety of issues ranging from crop insurance, the reorganization of the rural development office within the USDA, trade and more. Secretary Purdue made comments before answering questions ... Read More »

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) urge caution today as the Trump Administration officially submitted to Congress its notice of intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The U.S. wheat industry welcomes the opportunity for improving the framework for cross border wheat trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico, but ... Read More »