The slowest dance on Capitol Hill, the writing of a new farm bill, gained tempo May 1 when both the House and Senate agriculture committees released versions of their bills. The House bill was a broadly worded, five-page “outline,” while the Senate’s was a detailed 94-page report. Noting the differences in both heft and direction, […] Read more
Tag Archives Alan Guebert
Critics question U.S. gov’t focus on sustainable aviation fuel
Federal policymakers and their Big Ag friends have a problem: their hope to make corn and soybeans the feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel hit a wall when the aviation industry ruled that biofuel from either crop did not meet its “sustainable” guidelines. As such, there would be no corn- or soy-based SAF. That’s not the […] Read more
U.S. rigs the game to allow sustainable aviation fuel to play
The easiest way to win any game is to rig the rules. That’s what Big Ag and its loyal boosters at the U.S. Department of Agriculture appear to be doing to make sure their new project, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), flies despite market gravity and basic science. Proponents hope the jet biofuel market will reach […] Read more
Republican House hardliners again threaten U.S. farm bill
Even when speaker of the House Mike Johnson finds enough baling wire to lash together the votes needed to pass the almost six-months-late 2023 federal budget, it’s little more than a signal to some of his Republican colleagues to heat up the tar and gather the feathers to embarrass the Lousianan at the moment of […] Read more
Disconnect grows between hard numbers, soft policy in U.S.
Like much of the news anymore, the initial numbers from the 2022 Census of Agriculture were accurately reported, quickly downplayed or even worse, ignored, by most Big Ag groups, and then just pushed aside by the rush of the next day’s news. That’s a mistake because the numbers, released Feb. 13 by the U.S. Department […] Read more
No good news expected for U.S. farmers on commodity prices
While January left the old year behind, it didn’t leave behind any of the baggage that 2023 saddled American farmers and ranchers with. The chief worry carried forward was last year’s slumping grain markets, especially soybeans. August 2024 soybean futures skidded from nearly $14 per bushel in mid-November to less than $12.50 per bu. by […] Read more
Rampant agriculture spending not always good farm policy
Like some character in Alice in Wonderland, we’re well beyond the looking glass when the presumptive presidential candidate of the political party that prides itself as being fiscally conservative asks farmers, “look, did I get you $28 billion?” Yes, that was Donald Trump on the stump in Iowa a week before smashing his Republican opponents […] Read more
U.S. farm bill efforts this year can expect choppy seas
The pain I felt late Sunday, Jan. 7, was hard to pinpoint until I realized exactly when it struck: just moments after news of a tentative, 2024 budget deal between Senate and House negotiators had been announced. As such, it soon became apparent the pain wasn’t physical; most likely it was emotional. What, though? Anxiety? […] Read more
Lucrative U.S. crop insurance program remains controversial
U.S. founding father Benjamin Franklin was spot on almost three centuries ago when he noted — in print, no less — that two unavoidable facts of life were death and taxes. Had Ben been in the “Almanack” business today, he might add two, more modern facts of American life to his list: farmers and ranchers’ […] Read more
Big soybean players look to a bruising year ahead
After a five-year run that featured a costly trade war and an even costlier, deadly pandemic, the biggest players in the global soybean market — the United States, Brazil, and China — are positioning themselves for a big, bruising 2023-24 marketing year. Of the three, Brazil remains planted in the driver’s seat. The U.S. Department […] Read more
