Northery President Donald Trump over the weekend announced three nominations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Trump has nominated current Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey to serve as the undersecretary…
Labor Day Gardening
How to celebrate Labor Day in your backyard or garden. Cathy Isom has some special ideas for you coming up on This Land of Ours. Labor Day Gardening While many…
Perdue Talks NAFTA Benefits with Trump
President Donald Trump is once again threatening to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement. USDA Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue spoke with the president this week about the merits…
Low Education Rural Counties Worse Off than Higher Education Rural Counties
…counties as “low education” counties, where at least 20 percent of working-age adults, ages 25 to 64, do not have a high school diploma or equivalent. Nearly 80 percent of…
Study Shows Positive Impact of American Sheep Industry
…and related activities generates $2.42 in total labor income. The Employment Multiplier revealed that every 10.4 jobs in the sheep industry at the farm gate supports a total of 19.50…
Agriculture’s ‘Do No Harm’ Message Getting Through?
Agriculture’s ‘do no harm’ message to those renegotiating NAFTA seems to be getting through…but will it bear fruit? American Farm Bureau trade adviser Dave Salmonsen says a joint letter from…
Wall Street Journal Names Agriculture a NAFTA Issue to Watch
With the first round of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement set for Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal listed agriculture as an issue to watch throughout the negotiation…
MPI Report: U.S. Agricultural Workforce Being Reshaped
Shifting Migration & Labor Strategies, with Drop in Unauthorized Share & Rise in Use of H-2A Program Shifting migration patterns and labor strategies are reshaping the overwhelmingly foreign-born U.S. agricultural…
Early Market Benefits Apple Growers
…For example, 10 years ago there were 20,500 acres of apples in the state, and acreage stood at 28,000 in 2003. “I think with the nut crops doing so well,…
Farm Labor Shortage May Drive Produce Prices Higher
…the end of a serious drought this spring, a serious labor shortage is becoming another issue to deal with. California is where the bulk of the nation’s produce is grown…
Labor Shortages Continue to Plague California
…in the $13 million-dollar range because of a lack of available labor. Listen to Jacobsen’s full interview Ryan Jacobsen Interview Along with a shortage of labor, several other factors are…
Ports Contract Eases Trade Concerns
A contract agreement between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association has eased trade concerns. The two ratified a three-year extension to the labor contract for…
Immigration Bill Won’t Affect Temporary Workers
The sponsor of an immigration bill suspected to reduce the agriculture labor force in the U.S. says his legislation will not impact temporary workers, which are often used in agriculture…
Tomato Harvest Slowly Gains Momentum
…planting, June and July heat waves whose effects have yet to be determined, and the strong dollar holding down exports. In its most recent report, issued two months ago, the…