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  • Congress considers cutting food stamp program funds May 17, 2013 - Charleston Daily Mail With an almost $17 trillion debt, I believe that reductions could be made.
  • Dry farming draws interest of small growers in Central Valley May 17, 2013 - The Sacramento Bee That moisture, however small, keeps his crops alive throughout the dry season. Durst also farms irrigated crops.
  • Jeff Merkley Pushes 'Monsanto Protection Act' Repeal May 17, 2013 - The Huffington Post The industry fought back with the farm bill rider, preventing the enforcement of court rulings. Sen.
  • Sugar PAC Gives $165,000 in April as Farm Bills Are Considered May 17, 2013 - Roll Call - Political MoneyLine The American Crystal Sugar Company PAC reported it gave $165,000 to 39 federal candidates and committees during April as farm bills were being considered by the 113th Congress. U.S. sugar companies fear an effort by food companies and confectioners to amend the farm bills on the floor to eliminate the sugar support program. The current program regulates the amount of foreign sugar imported to the U.S. from non-NAFTA countries.
  • Farm Bill Advanced by House Panel May 17, 2013 - CQ News ...cut food benefits, saving an estimated $33 billion, despite flare-ups over nutrition subsidies and dairy programs.The measure (HR 1947), advanced 36-10, would trim spending by about $20 billion more than a Senate version of the bill advanced Tuesday, but the Congressional Budget Office said savings could near $40 billion if Congress acted to end the budget sequester. The current farm policy law (PL 112-24) expires Sept. 30.While the House bill mirrored Senate legislation (S 954)...
  • Organic industry clout grows with consumer demand May 17, 2013 - Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- The organic food industry is gaining clout on Capitol Hill, prompted by rising consumer demand and its entry into traditional farm states. Eight Republicans, most of them newer members of the committee, joined with all of the panel's Democrats in supporting the amendment, which was adopted 29-17.Rep.
  • Casey likes chances of farm measure's passage May 17, 2013 - Reading Eagle ...bill's costs. The Senate bill offers protections from erratic dips in milk prices and feed cost spikes to the state's dairy farmers, Casey said Wednesday. "That combination cost dairy farmers some $20 billion in net worth from 2007 to 2009," he said. The Senate bill also expands crop insurance for fruit and vegetable growers, he said. The bill drew qualified praise from Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The bill, which was...
  • Farm bill would help fruit growers May 17, 2013 - The Record-Eagle We are directing the USDA to expand crop insurance. They will be expanding crop insurance for cherry growers." The U.S. House of Representatives also is working on its own version of the farm bill. Problems were compounded by the inability of many growers to obtain crop insurance.
  • The Caucus: House Agriculture Committee Approves Farm Bill May 17, 2013 - New York Times Lucas said.The House bill cuts projected spending in farm and nutrition programs by nearly $40 billion over the next 10 years. Currently, farmers who grow corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and other crops receive about $5 billion in direct payments. The bill adds money to support fruit and vegetable growers.
  • This farmers' market is healthier and cheaper than most May 17, 2013 - San Jose Mercury News He heads the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association, a nonprofit that organizes about 70 markets in California. So did doctors, nurses and dietitians wearing white medical smocks. The 55-year-old San Jose woman suffers from lymphedema.
  • Hoe, hoe, hoe! Christmas trees are back, in new farm bill May 17, 2013 - McClatchy Washington Bureau The payments are less dominant, but still add up, in agriculturally diverse states such as California, where growers received $123 million. The bill includes a measure authored by freshman Rep. Committee members added an amendment authored by Rep.
  • The potato farmer May 16, 2013 - Agweek The younger Offutt was 19 and a college student and potato farmer when he took economic and European history classes that Drache taught at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. Then there is Offutt's grandfather, Bert, a farming kingpin who was killed in a car accident in 1931, but bought potato seed in the Red River Valley. There is the expansion to Big Lake, Minn., potato growing in Perham, Minn., as the Soil Bank land becomes available in the early 1970s.
  • Old-fashioned West Sac farmer uses Web to sell products May 16, 2013 - The Sacramento Bee Meanwhile, cut tops from radish and slice thickly, roughly 1/4 inch. Pour liquid into jar to submerge radish. Cover and let cool. Tear lettuce leaves and top with toasted walnuts.
  • Lodi's Amy Blagg awarded for work with San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation May 16, 2013 - Lodi News-Sentinel May 15--Though her day job is in an office, Amy Blagg simply can't get away from the farming life she grew up in. She also represents the association and grape growers at community meetings, like local water districts. "I work with farmers and ranchers. Many of them are family friends," she said. "It's nice to work for a tight-knit group.
  • Maine House votes against creating food sovereignty act May 16, 2013 - Bangor Daily News Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, sponsored the measure, LD 475, which went to the House with a majority "ought not to pass" recommendation from the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. Aaron Libby, R-Waterboro, the bill's other co-sponsor, expressed reservations about an unintended consequence of passage.
  • Blueberry farmer Rick Pertics 'loved his work' May 16, 2013 - South Bend Tribune, Ind. I hope that somehow they can continue." Funeral services will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Palmer Funeral Home, 314 S. Michigan St., in Lakeville.
  • Legislature sends 'right to farm' to voters May 16, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch Their efforts have prompted states like North Dakota, Oklahoma and Indiana to take action to protect their agriculture industries. It is time for Missouri to do the same," said Smith, who is currently running for Congress. Sen.
  • Shavuot: A Call for an Agrarian Torah May 16, 2013 - The Huffington Post This week, Jews all over the world will be celebrating the festival of Shavuot. Like Passover and Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles), Shavuot is one of our three main pilgrimage festivals. This is the heart of an agrarian Torah. This Shavuot, what will your pilgrimage to Jerusalem be?
  • Dry farming draws interest of small growers in Central Valley May 16, 2013 - The Sacramento Bee That moisture, however small, keeps his crops alive throughout the dry season. Durst also farms irrigated crops.
  • Meanwhile, the Farm Bill's Ready for the Floor May 16, 2013 - Roll Call Stabenow said in a statement. The committee’s workspace was tiny compared to the cavernous hearing room on the ground floor of the Dirksen Building where the Judiciary Committee resumed work on a rewrite of federal immigration laws. At the Judiciary meeting, Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., mused before his hearing started about how the Dirsken space is among the worst on Capitol Hill. In a statement for the farm bill markup, Leahy warned against yet another delay in a full...