The Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus along with all the other seven county farm bureaus whose members could be impacted by the project requested the ILFB to intervene in the case.

 

The Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus sent letters to its members along the proposed and alternate routes outlining organization action on the project. The organizations will hold a member meeting in May to further outline steps landowners can take to oppose and intervene in the case.

 

The project routes impact about 300 landowners in Pike and Scott counties alone. The proposed route crosses approximately 50 miles in the two counties. The alternate route covers 37 miles in Pike and does not impact Scott County.

The Senate Finance Committee voted Wednesday to give President Barack Obama "fast track" trade promotion authority, setting the stage for a vote on the Senate floor and moving the administration another step toward being able to close the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact in coming months.

 

Expanding international trade is vital to the success of America's farmers and ranchers. To make that expansion happen, Congress must approve trade promotion authority, the American Farm Bureau Federation said last week.

 

"Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) introduced legislation that greatly benefits American agriculture and farm families across the nation. This bipartisan effort advances an important policy objective just as the administration is engaged in major trade talks such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership," AFBF President Bob Stallman said. The world's leader in agricultural exports, the United States has much to gain through congressional approval of TPA. The U.S. is coming off a record year of $152 billion in agricultural exports. TPA will help keep that trend moving forward.

 

AFBF news release

Concerned that the Innovation Act (H.R. 9) will discourage investment in modern agricultural tools important to rural America, the American Farm Bureau Federation and more than two dozen other farmer organizations and agricultural companies urged Senate and House Judiciary Committee leaders to proceed with caution as they consider making changes to the U.S. patent system.

 

The bill, as written, will make patent rights more difficult to enforce and make it more challenging for companies and universities to cross-license agricultural technologies, the groups wrote in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), as well as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.).

 

FBNews article

With spring planting season in full swing, Feeding America is encouraging everyone - from gardener to farmer - to help grow crops for their local food bank or food pantry. In a news release, the charity highlighted a number of ways farmers and gardeners can help their local food banks and the pantries they serve. Harvest for All, a successful campaign spearheaded by Young Farmers and Ranchers for the past 12 years, was included on the list.

 

Harvest for All includes activities organized by state and county Farm Bureaus in connection with local Feeding America affiliates across the country. In 2014, Young Farmers and Ranchers programs across the country donated nearly 42 million pounds of food, spent nearly 14,000 hours volunteering and gave more than $1.2 million to their local food banks and food pantries.