The Food Safety Enhancement Act, a bill that would overhaul food safety rules, includes provisions that concern farmers and ranchers, the Farm Bureau told the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a letter.
OBM's preliminary revenue report for May show a continuing slump in personal income tax receipts and a sizeable hit to sales tax intake compared to the agency's estimates as revised several months ago. Total tax receipts for the month were nearly $165 million, or 10.7%, less than projected...
The Ohio Equine Task Force recently submitted recommendations that were created with the intention of strengthening and promoting Ohio’s equine industry. Created by Ohio Agriculture Director Robert Boggs in response to the critical state of Ohio’s equine industry, the task force, composed...
Citing changes in farm practices and energy policy, analysts at the Environmental Protection Agency have sharply lowered estimates of the potential carbon credits for which farmers and landowners would likely qualify, according to the Des Moines Register. This could make it difficult to sell...
Agriculture is a bull’s-eye industry for a national energy tax because it is energy-intensive, according to commentary published in Agweek by Reps. Frank Lucas, Sam Graves and Doc Hastings, co-chairs of the Rural America Solutions Group. The “cap and trade” provision of the Waxman-Markey climate...
Ohio Farm Bureau staff have identified three upcoming Key Votes for Ohio lawmakers. These include - SCR8 in the Ohio Senate and HCR 15 in the Ohio House regarding a proposed Cow Tax Resolution, SCR 15 a resolution regarding Federal Climate Change legislation, and SB 131 - a bio-based products...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the climate change bill passed last month by the Energy and Commerce Committee will go through more changes before coming up for a vote in the full House and that agriculture will be very important. “The Energy and Commerce Committee was one step and...
Talk on Capitol Hill points to the House Agriculture Committee as a key hurdle to the massive climate change bill introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.). The Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on the bill Thursday afternoon, with AFBF President Bob Stallman...
On Monday, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals granted EPA's request for a two-year stay in the implementation of its January 2009 pesticide permit ruling. The rule would have required Clean Water Act permits for many pesticide applications.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) request for a two-year stay of its ruling in the National Cotton Council v. Environmental Protection Agency decision issued on January 7, 2009. This “stay of the mandate” makes the original EPA...
Research by Texas Tech University’s Economics Research Institute (CERI) shows that all countries, regardless of size, protect their agricultural producers and generally far more than the United States. According to CERI, the U.S. falls near the bottom on the use of tariffs.
The Senate approved a bill Thursday by a 79-17 vote that gives the Food and Drug Administration sweeping new powers to regulate tobacco products, including such factors as the amount of addictive nicotine in a cigarette and cigarette packaging and marketing. The 79-17 vote virtually ensures...
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Waxman-Markey climate change bill may not pass the House of Representatives unless it becomes more farm-friendly. The warning, sounded by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), presents a new obstacle to the White House’s effort to get...
The nation’s county governments and farmers are partnering to oppose legislation to significantly expand the federal jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The National Association of Counties’ (NACo) and the American Farm Bureau Federation are concerned that the Clean Water Restoration...
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Ohio Farm Bureau is backing a bipartisan proposal that would establish a framework for making decisions on livestock care in Ohio. Joint resolutions in the House and the Senate would place a measure on the November ballot to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board...
Governor Ted Strickland shared with the House and Senate a proposal to balance the state’s fiscal years 2010-2011 operating budget without a tax increase and lay the groundwork for jobs and economic growth.
Farm Bureau Urges "No" Vote on Legislation; "Yes" Vote on Peterson Amendment
Bipartisan negotiations have addressed numerous concerns about the Food Safety Enhancement Act raised by Farm Bureau and other agriculture groups since the discussion draft was introduced late last month. However, unresolved issues that could increase cost and paperwork burdens on farmers remain...
In testimony before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman said it was a long, hard road to passage of the 2008 farm bill, and it is now time for implementation.
Ohio Farm Bureau is disappointed that H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed the House on Friday but is committed to defeating the legislation if it is brought up in the Senate.
This past week House Joint Resolution 2 (Sayre, Ruhl) and Senate Joint Resolution 6 (Gibbs, Wilson) passed in their respective chambers. HJR 2 passed 84 – 13 in the House of Representatives while SJR 6 passed unanimously in the Senate 32 – 0. Both cleared their respective committees...
Ohio Farm Bureau members should call or e-mail their State Representative and State Senator to urge final passage of a critical livestock care measure (even if you already called or e-mailed the week of June 22nd-26th).
The House-passed climate change bill still faces many legislative hurdles with passage in the Senate seen as very difficult. Several climate change measures are being drafted in the upper chamber, where regional and philosophical differences are even more sharply defined.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman sent a letter to the editor of the Washington Post on Friday, responding to a vitriolic opinion piece by Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein criticizing Farm Bureau's opposition to the massive climate change bill that narrowly passed...
Vice President Joe Biden, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other Obama administration officials and Cabinet secretaries will participate in a rural tour across the country through September. The tour is designed to show how the Agriculture Department and other federal agencies are working to...