Agriculture.com

Today the EPA released the final rule setting renewable fuel blending standards for 2023, 2024, and 2025 and ag and biofuel representatives widely responded with disappointment.  “The RFS was intended to drive continual growth in all categories of renewable fuels well beyond 2022; instead, today’s final rule flatlines conventional renewable fuels at 15 billion gallons and misses a valuable opportunity to accelerate the energy sector’s transition to low- and zero-carbon fuels," says Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. Читать дальше...

Cattle have been grazing the pastures of our little farm since we moved here 24 years ago. My father-in-law, John Prater, gave me and my husband, Jayson, two beautiful polled Herefords, and we built a herd. When each of our three sons was born, Papa John gave them a heifer of their own. Jake got a black white-face named Speckles, Luke got Daisy the Charolais-Hereford cross, and Will got Miracle, a sweet red Hereford. Miracle was born in the middle of a blizzard. She was a twin, and her mama didn’t take to her. Читать дальше...

Growing up as an Iowan, farming is something I’ve always been aware of – even if it’s just in the background, like it was for me growing up in the Des Moines suburbs. It’s everywhere – the fields of corn and soybeans go on for miles, whether you’re on a rural highway or flying through western Iowa (at a safe speed of course) on I-80. It’s not just a key part of this state, but of the entire country and economy. As a self-described city kid who was drawn to sports and history during my formative years... Читать дальше...

I grew up on a modest small family farm an hour away from Philadelphia. Every summer, when the International Harvester small square baler would break down for the 100th time, I would be sent out to the field in the old GMC farm pickup with a three-prong pitchfork to pitch the hay into the bed to unload on the barn floor.  READ MORE: A tribute to my childhood on National Ag Day Working up a sweat, building a farmer's tan with the blazing sun beating down on me, I would groan, wishing I was in my cousin's swimming pool. Читать дальше...

For all their differences, the United States and the European Union share a common experience — the abrupt decline in farm numbers, said the agriculture ministers of the agricultural powerhouses. The transformation of the agriculture sector, more recent in Europe than in the United States, resulted in a relatively small number of large farms that produce the majority of the food and many small farms with little revenue from crops and livestock. The number of farms in Europe fell 37%, to 9.1 million, from 2005 to 2020. Читать дальше...

By Jared Strong New legislation that was introduced in the Iowa House on Monday to limit eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines got preliminary approval Tuesday from a subcommittee. “Private property rights have to mean something,” said Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who is a co-sponsor of the bill and led the House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Tuesday morning. House File 368 has emerged as the leading bill of more than 10 proposed this legislative session that have restrictions... Читать дальше...

By Robert Zullo BUCYRUS, Ohio — In four terms as a county elected official in northern Ohio, it was the most contentious issue Doug Weisenauer had ever seen. The state legislature had newly empowered county governments to drastically restrict wind and solar power development, a process formerly overseen by the Ohio Power Siting Board, and the meetings of the three-member governing body for Crawford County (population 41,754) suddenly started becoming a lot more animated.  “As soon as Senate Bill 52 passed... Читать дальше...

Today USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced funding for farmers and forest landowners nationwide to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt climate-smart practices. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided an additional $19.5 billion over five years for climate-smart agriculture through several Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs. READ MORE: Legal tug of war over pesticide rebate programs continues  NRCS is making $850 million available in fiscal... Читать дальше...

By Jared Strong A district court judge has rejected a request to dismiss the trespassing charge against a land surveyor who attempted to evaluate a northwest Iowa property in August for Summit Carbon Solutions, according to court records. A tenant of the property had previously turned away another Summit survey crew in April 2022 and told them not to return. The surveyor who was charged with trespassing, Stephen James Larsen, 28, of Arlington, South Dakota, was not part of that first crew... Читать дальше...

By Jared Strong Three Lee County residents say land surveyors for a carbon dioxide pipeline company went onto their properties without giving required notice of the surveys but that law enforcement officers have so far declined to charge the surveyors with trespassing. Navigator CO2 Ventures is one of three companies that intend to build pipelines to carry captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in Iowa for out-of-state sequestration or other commercial uses. About 58 miles of its... Читать дальше...