House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway offered his approval to a bill that would bring reforms to agriculture labor. Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approves the Ag Act, which supporters…
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Lists Farm Bill Priorities
…next farm bill, including a focus on promoting farm cooperatives and “their abilities to enhance competition in the agricultural marketplace by acting as bargaining agents” for cooperative members. The organization…
Building Your Own No Dig Garden Bed
…building one. The easiest and least labor-intensive method is sheet mulching – or the lasagna method. Layer upon layer of organic material atop the soil. This creates a raised bed…
California Labor Shortages Detailed in Survey
…69 percent reporting problems with acquiring sufficient labor. The shortages were seen predominately in crops that require a significant amount of hand labor. The survey participants were comprised of a…
NAFTA Talks Turn to Agriculture, Dairy
The U.S. wants to reverse Canada’s dairy supply management system as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation. U.S. negotiators centered on the agriculture chapter of NAFTA…
Trump Calls Trudeau a Friend During NAFTA Talks
…The American Farm Bureau Federation this week joined Farmers for Free Trade to defend the agreement. The agenda for the current round of negotiations includes discussions on financial services, labor…
California Benefits from Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recently announced the funding allotments for the 2017 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. California was provided with $19.2 million from the nearly $60.6 million…
Agriculture Groups Support Farm Guest Worker Bill
Agriculture groups are expressing support for the Agricultural Guestworker Act of 2017. The bill would create an H-2C visa program that will allow American farmers, packers and processors access to…
Farmers, Ranchers Ready for Long-overdue Immigration Reform
…all U.S. agriculture. “Farm Bureau applauds Rep. Goodlatte for his leadership on this legislation and looks forward to working with members on both sides of the aisle to solve agriculture’s…
Packer Capacity to Keep Up With Expanding Beef Herd
…Amen, an animal protein economist at CoBank, said over the last three years, the expansion has been the most aggressive on record. He says, “Recent slaughter numbers and the cattle…
Rep. Carter Discusses H-2A with Secretary of Labor Acosta
…eligibility Make the wage rate more transparent and predictable Provide for mediation and arbitration agreements Transportation adjustments View the full letter to Secretary of Labor Acosta here. The meeting was…
UC ANR and AgStart Receive Funding to Cultivate the VINE
…person.” AgStart itself was established with an EDA i6 Challenge grant to assist agriculture and food technology entrepreneurs in the Sacramento Valley region. Since 2012, AgStart has supported more than…
Proposed Guest Worker Plan to Replace H-2A Worker Program
…and would replace the program that many in agriculture use to find labor. A Packer Dot Com article says Goodlatte, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, told the United Fresh…
U.S. Cotton Sets Goals to Further Reduce Environmental Footprint
…cotton that is produced with sustainable and responsible environmental, safety and labor practices,” said National Cotton Council Chairman Ronnie Lee, a Georgia cotton producer. “That is the objective that was…