The Farm Post eNews

Friday eNews from the Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus
 

JUNE 17, 2016
Follow the Law
An AFBF representative told the Environmental Protection Agency during a public hearing this week to follow the statute under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Randy Caviness, an Iowa Farm Bureau member, told the EPA to stay the course Congress laid out under the RFS. American Farm Bureau congressional relations director Andrew Walmsley explained in Thursday's Newsline that EPA needs to reconsider the proposal.

"We're all kind of left scratching our heads as to why EPA is not meeting the statutory requirements," Walmsley said. Further, "There's enough biofuel out there, there's enough Renewable Identification Numbers, which is a system that helps refiners meet the standards available. So we're telling EPA to stick with the statute and reconsider what they have proposed."
Registration open for summer conference
Registration is open for the 2016 Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) Farm Income and Innovation Conference (formerly known as the Commodities Conference), held July 27, at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. 

The conference will feature two general sessions and multiple breakouts that focus on topics traditionally included in the Commodities Conference, but will also include new topics which focus on technology and emphasize farm innovation.

Click here to register online, or contact your county Farm Bureau. Registration is $35 through July 15 and includes lunch. You can also register at the conference.
Addressing animal ag in kids books
As generations become further removed from the farm, the need for education rises to the forefront in order to fight the misconceptions associated with agriculture. In the latest American Farm Bureau Foundation guest blog post, author Michelle Houts addresses the topic of animal agriculture in children's books - telling the truth to young readers.

In the post, Houts discusses agriculture in schools, her experiences writing about this important topic and much more!

Blog post
Clock is ticking on Challenge
Time is running out for rural entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas in the 2017 Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge. You have until the end of the month to submit food or agriculture business ideas for consideration in the challenge. Businesses are competing for $145,000 in startup funds.

"We've got some great applications already and we're hoping to see even more," said Lisa Benson, AFBF's director of rural development, in Tuesday's Newsline. "The application is basically a business plan so it's a great first step in making those business dreams you have a reality," she said.

FB Challenge Press Room
Advocacy Tip of the Day
Keep your emails and letters to one issue and state your "ask" in the first paragraph when reaching out to members of Congress. And always identify yourself as a constituent and Farm Bureau member.
TODAY IN HISTORY
JUNE 17, 1856
1ST GOP CONVENTION

The first presidential convention of the new Republican Party started on June 17, 1856 in Philadelphia.

Ominous talk of pending civil war was rampant, and there was a real feeling of national crisis when Republicans gathered to choose their first presidential candidate at Philadelphia's Musical Fund Hall

Violent civil conflict in "bleeding Kansas" was polarizing the nation. In fact, it was the appeasement of slave interests through the Kansas-Nebraska and Fugitive Slave acts that gave birth to the party.

The new Republican Party was born in 1854 at a meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin.

The new party was an umbrella that took in members of the rapidly disintegrating Whig Party, abolitionists, Free-Soilers and anti-slavery Democrats.

Read more at ushistory.org
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