The Farm Post eNews

Friday eNews from the Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus
 

JANUARY 15, 2016
Tuesday lunch--make your reservation today
Pesticide Training/Testing
Private pesticide applicator TESTING will be held on January 28 at the Pike County Farm Bureau beginning at 10 a.m. TESTING will also be the Morgan County Extension office on February 10. Register on-line.

You can study for these on your own via two methods. The manual and study guide are available from any Extension office for $13. You can also go online for training. The cost is $15 for this online training. Register on-line.
 
Or you can attend a TRAINING AND TESTING session on January 11 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield and again on February 4 at the Quincy Holiday Inn. For all sessions, training will be held between 8am-11:30am and testing is from 11:45 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. You must register here. Select the Private Training icon.There is a $40.00 registration fee per person per clinic.
House passes WOTUS bill--BHO expected to Veto measure
Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert, Jr., indicated that Farm Bureau is happy the U.S. House passed Senate WOTUS bill and sends it to POTUS.

"We are pleased to see the House join the Senate and pass S.J. Resolution 22, a measure which formally disapproves the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.

"Since the rule was introduced almost two years ago, farmers and business owners have consistently expressed their concerns, saying the rule is poorly written, will lead to greater confusion, and gives the EPA nearly unlimited authority to regulate land and water at their discretion.

"Over the past two years, Congress has responded to our concerns, the Corps of Engineers has distanced itself from the rule, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has accused the EPA of conducting an illegal PR campaign to generate positive comments and the courts have blocked implementation.

"Now with the House's passage of S.J. Resolution 22, Congress has overwhelmingly voiced its condemnation of the rule, and Farm Bureau is calling on the President to listen to the concerns of farmers, business owners, states, federal agencies and courts across the country and drown the rule." 
AFBF elects new officers
Delegates at the 97th American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention elected Zippy Duvall to serve as the new president of AFBF and Scott VanderWal as vice president.

Vincent "Zippy" Duvall is a poultry, cattle and hay producer from Greene County, Georgia, and served as president of the Georgia Farm Bureau for 9 years. Duvall has held numerous leadership positions in Farm Bureau and his local community. He is the 12th president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Scott VanderWal is a third-generation family farmer from Volga, South Dakota, and has been president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau since 2004.

Rich Guebert, president of the Illinois Farm Bureau was elected to the AFBF Executive Committee.
 
 AFBF news release
Stand up and be counted
Bob Stallman
Farmers and ranchers need to adopt technology and they need to stand up for their rights. But most of all, they need to share their stories, AFBF President Bob Stallman told members at the 97th Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show in Orlando.
 
Stallman's address - his last after 16 years as the head of the nation's largest farm organization - echoed the challenges farmers and ranchers face when government oversteps the limits of the law. He reminded attendees that the organization's struggle to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's latest, flawed water policies was not yet over.
 
"You know, if we're going to let the federal government dictate where we can and cannot farm-or cut trees, or build homes, or otherwise use the land for any productive, economic activity-then this is not the Land of Liberty," Stallman told attendees. "It is not the country that our forefathers envisioned-nor is it a country that will be able to feed itself for very long."
 
AFBF news release
Pro-Science means Pro-GMO
World-renowned environmentalist Mark Lynas shared his experience of moving from anti-GMO activist to advocate for biotechnology at a featured workshop at the 97th American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show.
 
Lynas told an audience of farmers and ranchers how he changed his mind on GMOs when he came face-to-face with the science supporting biotechnology.
 
"As a scientist, you must have data to back up what you're saying," Lynas said. "And I realized I wasn't holding myself to the same scientific standards on GMOs as I applied to my research on climate change. You can't pick and choose where you use science to back up your argument: You have to be consistent."
 
AFBF news release
All the details on AFBF annual mtg                   
If you were not able to attend AFBF's 97th Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show, which wrapped up earlier this week in Orlando, Florida, visit our newsroom for news, audio, video and photos.
TODAY IN HISTORY
Democratic Symbol Born
 January 15, 1870
 
On January 15, 1870, Harper's Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast used the Democratic donkey in newspaper cartoons and made the symbol famous.

Following his death in 1902, Thomas Nast's obituary in Harper's Weekly stated, "He has been called, perhaps not with accuracy, but with substantial justice, the Father of American Caricature." Nast's campaign against New York City's political boss William Magear Tweed is legendary. He devised the Tammany tiger; popularized the jackass as the symbol for the Democratic Party (later embraced by Democrats as a donkey) and elephant, for the Republican Party; and created the "modern" image of Santa Claus. One of Nast's cartoons was said to have re-elected Lincoln in 1864, and Lincoln himself commented that Nast was his best recruiting sergeant. Grant attributed his election as President in 1868 "to the sword of [General Phil] Sheridan and the pencil of Nast."

Read more on Thomas Nast
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