agriculture

**The House Appropriations Committee’s agriculture and energy subcommittees approved bills that reject most of the cuts sought by President Trump. The bill approved by the panel’s ag subcommittee would still cut discretionary spending at USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by $876 million from fiscal 2017 levels...

**Ag education is changing to keep up with recent advancements. National FFA Association CEO Mark Poeschl tells Brownfield they are working with ag educators as agriculture and technology evolves. He says that means exposing FFA members to more science and technology uses in agribusiness to get them interested in a possible ag-related career...

**After newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress last week that President Trump intends to renegotiate NAFTA, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue gave his stamp of approval. Perdue says "While NAFTA has been an overall positive for American agriculture, any trade deal can always be improved, and as President Trump moves forward with renegotiating with Canada and Mex

**ChemChina’s $43 billion acquisition of Syngenta has been approved by the Federal Trade Commission, on the condition that ChemChina divest three of its generic pesticides. The European Commission, the EU’s governing body, approved the deal last Wednesday...

** China has suspended all meat imports from Brazil in the wake of a scandal involving Brazil’s meat industry. Ag economist Alton Kalo with Steiner Consulting says since China has not yet resumed buying U.S. beef, China could turn to Argentina, Australia and New Zealand to meet its needs, which could open the door for a domino effect that could force other countries to increase purchases of U... R

**Farmers and ranchers participating in the National Farmers Union Anniversary Convention endorsed several farm bill provisions designed to shore up farm income while “vehemently” opposing any spending cuts and recommending additional spending to shore up the farm safety net...

The leader of America’s biggest farm group says U.S. agriculture is experiencing something of a Charles Dickens moment, benefiting from what he called the “the best times” while dealing with the “worst” of times. American Farm Bureau Federation’s Zippy Duvall says the new Trump administration and the 115th Congress are contributing to the best of times with their appetite for regulatory and tax re

A consumer research firm has developed a new approach to help farmers better understand influential consumer groups and how they drive the market. J.J. Jones, with the Center for Food Integrity says farmers can use the information to help make management decisions for their operations...

The Central Washington State Fair begins in Yakima in just a couple of days, and last night, I got a sneak peek! It was so cool to see all of the workers setting up the rides, as well as seeing some of the animals already settling in to their new homes in pens for the next two weeks...