DOL regulatory back-down calms family farm tempest
The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent decision to withdraw the proposed rule dealing with family farms and child labor calmed a months-long storm in rural America. Accused by opponents of being a hyper-regulatory overreach, the rule would have prevented the children of farming families from many work-related activities.
Mobile phones make quick inroads with farmers in developing world
As the world population heads toward 9 billion by 2050, there has been much hand-wringing over how to properly feed so many. In the developing world, it turns out mobile phones may be the best hope for growers looking to improve yields, market crops and move out of subsistence-level farming.
Will House Agriculture Committee rectify Senate farm bill flaws?
After a farm bill passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26, focus has shifted to the House version. That’s especially true in the South, where agriculture leaders expect the House bill to be friendlier to the region than what will soon hit the Senate floor.
Criticism heavy during farm bill markup
There is no argument that the farm bill passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday was bipartisan. It was not, however, regionally inclusive as all four senators on the committee from the South – Arkansas’ John Boozman, Georgia’s Saxby Chambliss, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell and Mississippi’s Thad Cochran -- voted nay.
Louisiana trying to safeguard $766,000 weevil fund
Louisiana state legislators are considering several bills to insure that $766,000 in boll weevil eradication funds are not included in a fund sweep that Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing to help balance the state budget.
Rancorous House hearing ends with passage of budget proposal
On Wednesday morning, the House Agriculture Committee passed the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2012. Passage came after 90 minutes of heated rhetoric, grandstanding and warnings that the budget cut proposals were a threat to the committee’s much-touted bipartisanship.
Louisiana legislation could ease LSU AgCenter funding concerns
On Wednesday night, the Louisiana House of Representatives approved HB 754, which would help ease long-standing LSU AgCenter funding concerns. The bill passed with one nay vote and now heads to the state’s Senate Finance Committee where proponents hope to see action before the end of the legislative session in June.
George Lacour reflects on tumultuous 2011 growing season
It sounds odd but at the same time a bloated Mississippi River was flooding part of George Lacour’s cotton acreage, another portion of his Louisiana cotton was drought-stricken. Many months later, the Southern Cotton Ginners Association president was still coming to terms with the 2011 growing season.
