Blog

By Maria Miller, NFU Education Director The 75th National Farmers Union (NFU) 2011 All-States Leadership Camp in Colorado has begun! Sunday was a day of getting acquainted and learning about the cooperative spirit. Yesterday, NFU Vice President Claudia Svarstad spoke to the campers about her experiences with the Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange Program NFU participates in. She … Read More

By Laura Demmel, NFU Executive Assistant In the coming days, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee will likely debate the three pending Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with South Korea (KORUS), Colombia, and Panama.  National Farmers Union members passed a policy resolution this spring in opposition to the pending FTAs as … Read More

By Jordan Hergenreder, NFU Intern National Farmers Union has long believed that long-term, sustainable rural economic development depends on the share that farmers receive from the sale of food. On June 25, 2011, Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General, echoed this sentiment as he addressed global food and nutrition security issues at the Food and … Read More

By Jan Ahlen, NFU Climate and Energy Coordinator On Wednesday, the renewable energy tour moved on to the University of Minnesota-Morris. Farmers Union members attended a series of panel discussions followed by a tour of the university’s renewable energy facilities. Various relevant stakeholders participated on the panels. Farmers heard from participants of the renewable energy … Read More

By Laura Demmel, NFU Executive Assistant Americans are so lucky. We have a rich history, painted with images of wise and courageous founders; sacrifices of millions of soldiers fighting for our liberties and our territory; dust-blown, idle farms and starving Americans of the 1930s; happy, comfortable families living the American dream; and countless other pleasant … Read More

By Jeremy Peters, NFU Government Relations Representative Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the much anticipated label for E15.  While the label is a positive step forward, much work remains to make E15 ready for prime time. First, the label itself–a tremendous improvement over previous versions– could be further improved. For example, the … Read More

By Jan Ahlen, NFU Climate and Energy Coordinator The 2011 Renewable Energy Tour kicked off yesterday at the Midwest Dairy Institute in Milbank, S.D. We had a great turnout from local Farmers Union members who were very interested in learning more about diversifying their revenue stream through the production of renewable energy. We heard first … Read More

By Amy Czerniak, NFU Intern Last week was National Pollinator Week, a time to increase awareness about the importance of pollinators, the role they play in agriculture, and how they affect consumers. Thursday brought about the National Pollinator Week briefing and a day full of activities for the intern volunteers helping with the event, including NFU … Read More

After one year, 60,000 comments and reams of press releases later, a rule that would put common sense rules back into the livestock market place still has not been finalized and implemented. NFU members are urged to call the White House this week to ask the Obama Administration implement these rules now. On June 22, … Read More

By Brittany Jablonsky, NFU Government Relations Representative The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently issued its proposed rule to establish a proposed national marketing agreement regulating leafy green vegetables. This rulemaking was the result of a request by the largest players in the leafy greens industry, who petitioned USDA to write … Read More