Click here for this week’s Commodity Comments, a weekly newsletter designed to provide agricultural producers with an analysis of current market trends by Farm Bureau Market Analyst Jonah Bowles.
This Week’s Commodity Comments: October 8, 2014
Month: October 2014
Farm Bureau Urges Senate to Ditch Proposed Water Rule
The American Farm Bureau Federation is urging the Senate to tell the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw its proposed Waters of the U.S. Rule and restore the integrity of the rulemaking process.
In a letter sent to all members of the Senate, AFBF cited a recent letter sent by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy to the EPA. After a thorough evaluation, the SBA office’s letter called on the EPA and the Corps of Engineers to withdraw the WOTUS rule.
“The SBA Office of Advocacy found that EPA and the Corps used conflicting and even incorrect data in order to claim minimal impacts on small business and that they cherry-picked the data used in their economic analysis,” AFBF wrote.
Farm Bureau has vigorously articulated its view that the EPA analysis of its proposed rule is flawed and the manner in which it has conducted this rulemaking is broken.
“The SBA Office of Advocacy has now validated our concerns,” Farm Bureau wrote. “Now is the time for all senators to join the bipartisan effort to have this rule withdrawn.”
A copy of the letter can be found here: http://www.fb.org/tmp/uploads/cwa-wotus-senate14-1006.pdf
VCE to Host Farm Succession Workshop Oct. 23 in Staunton
Virginia Cooperative Extension will present “Succession Solutions for Farm Families” on Thursday, Oct. 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Staunton Holiday Inn – I-81, Exit 225.
Succession is the watershed issue facing America’s family farmers. Planning for a smooth ownership transition and preparing the next generation to lead is tough. Providing financial security and eliminating the estate tax can be complex and confusing. If multigenerational success is your goal, this presentation is for you.
In this session, participants will learn the five keys to preserving the farm, and passing a successful operation to a well-prepared next generation. During the session, you’ll learn about the planning process, good communication strategies, and how to overcome obstacles. Utilizing tips from this workshop will help ensure the farm remains in the family, provides financial security, and offers career opportunities for generations to come.
Workshop participants will gain the confidence and preliminary tools to seek succession solutions for their farm family.
Presenter Kevin Spafford is the founder of Legacy by Design, a firm dedicated to providing succession solutions for farm families. Over the last ten years, he’s spearheaded initiatives to improve the way farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness owners engage in the succession planning process.
In 2013, Legacy by Design introduced eLegacyConnect, an online succession planning community complete with action plans, resource library, forums, a roster of advisors, and many other features to help farm and agribusiness owners plan for the future. As the architect of the Farm Journal Legacy Project, Kevin has facilitated more than 100 live events benefitting thousands of farm families across the U.S. He involves audiences in experiences that encourage action and generate results.
He is proud to share succession planning principles for Virginia Cooperative Extension, with sincere appreciation to the workshop sponsors.
For more information, please call Rockingham County Extension Office: (540) 564-3080 or email: jdaubert@vt.edu
From the Field: Nelson County Farmer Named 2015 National Beef Ambassador
From the Field is a bi-monthly column written by Mark Campbell, Farm Bureau Field Services Director for the Central District. He writes about Farm Bureau member benefits and County Farm Bureau activities.
Below is BEEF Daily article by Amanda Radke on the 2015 National Beef Ambassador program. The National Junior Division winner was Phillip Saunders from Nelson County, who is a neighbor of mine, and I am friends with the Saunders family. Congratulations to him!
It’s hard to believe it’s been eight years since I served as a South Dakota and National Beef Ambassador. Beef Ambassadors is an elite team of young people selected as advocates to travel the country for one year, promoting beef, educating consumers about beef, and addressing misconceptions about beef. The 2015 National Beef Ambassador contest was held last week in Denver, and I’ll admit that the event left me feeling just a little bit nostalgic about my experiences with this great program.
Thirty of the industry’s best young people competed in the senior and junior divisions this year. The winners in the senior division include: Rachel Purdy (Wyoming), Will Pohlman (Arkansas), Alicia Smith (Texas), Kalyn McKibben (Oklahoma) and Demi Snider (Ohio). In the junior division, the first-place winner was Phillip Saunders (Virginia), while Brett Lee (Louisiana) was second, and Abbey Schiefelbein (Minnesota) was third. The program is funded in part by the beef checkoff and managed by the American National CattleWomen, Inc., a contractor to the beef checkoff.
When I competed in the contest eight years ago, the competition consisted of a simple speech and interview. Today’s contestants are judged in many areas that prepare them to become outstanding advocates for the beef industry.
These include how well they can promote beef to consumers,their ability to answer questions from the media,their knowledge of the industry presented in addressing beef misconceptions in a letter-to-the-editor, and their efforts to educate students through ag-in-the-classroom projects.
Sounds impressive, right? I believe the National Beef Ambassador Program is one of the best investments of our beef checkoff dollars.
In the next year, these Beef Ambassadors will travel the nation promoting beef, answering consumer questions and serving as a voice for all of us ranchers back home.
Not only do these young people support beef producers, but the program is a great way to build the future leaders of our industry. I certainly wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today without the networking, travel experiences and training I received as part of the program. You can bet these rising stars have exciting careers ahead of them after their year is complete.
You can follow their adventures on Twitter at @beefambassador, or check out the National Beef Ambassador Facebook page.
Look for these ambassadors in the red shirts to be leaders in how we should respond to industry issues and the best way to reach the millennial audience. Congratulations to all 30 participants in this year’s contest. Thank you for all you do to promote beef!
Have you seen Beef Ambassadors, past or present, in action? Take a minute to thank them or offer them words of advice in the comments section below, and I’ll be sure to pass your thoughts along. Thanks!
Plows and Politics 