MITCHELL – Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds unveiled a bipartisan bill Wednesday at Dakotafest that would pay farmers to convert less-productive cropland back to grass and allow the acres to be grazed by livestock all season. The Rebuilding America’s National Cow Herd Act, or RANCH Act, would create a voluntary federal program with an enrollment […]
SIOUX FALLS — The year-round sale of higher ethanol-blended gasoline, called E15, does not have enough votes in the U.S. Senate unless it comes with compromises for small oil refineries, said Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota. Ethanol is a gasoline additive made primarily from corn, and a lower E10 blend is already available year-round. […]
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek said Friday at the Iowa State Fair that U.S. Senate Democrats should not “let perfection stand in the way of progress” in moving forward a farm bill. Earlier in August, progress on a farm bill stalled as Senate Democrats were unwilling to continue negotiations unless Republicans agreed to delay […]
Federal small business loan limits should be dramatically increased to help farmers and manufacturers contend with rising equipment costs, U.S. Small Business Administration chief Kelly Loeffler said Thursday during an Indiana visit with U.S. Sen. Todd Young. Loeffler, a member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, joined the Indiana Republican senator for a tour of an […]
“They want to make a deal,” President Donald Trump announced. “There’s a good chance that something could happen.” He has made more than 50 such uncorroborated declarations of Iran’s intent to negotiate ending his war, and countless discordant statements of his goals. When Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asked Congress for $11 billion for another farm […]
ALLEMAN – Hydrologic monitoring stations that help researchers compile flood and drought information useful for farmers and communities will soon be deployed across all of southwestern Iowa, following funding announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn. The $500,000 in federal funding will add 18 hydrologic monitoring stations to Iowa’s existing monitor network, and help establish […]
TOPEKA — A top Kansas agriculture advocate lost some of his optimism regarding the farm bill after the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee failed to move the bill forward Thursday. Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, said he had hoped the nation would see the much-needed passage of a farm bill this year […]
Farm bill progress stalled Thursday as the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee failed to move forward its version of the omnibus legislation due to a conflict over when states will shoulder a share of federal nutrition assistance costs. While the bill included bipartisan language from more than 100 bills, Democrats were unwilling to budge on their […]
South Dakota’s congressional delegation is hopeful that year-round, nationwide approval of E15 — a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol — will clear Congress this year, bolstered by its inclusion in the latest Senate version of the farm bill. Ethanol is a fuel additive made primarily from corn, and a lower E10 blend is already available […]
Twenty years after writing an opinion editorial calling for the establishment of the Iowa Hunger Summit, former governors Terry Branstad and Tom Vilsack and former U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Quinn celebrated the legacy of the summit Wednesday. Quinn, former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, said through his career, which included serving as president of the World Food […]
