By USCA Communications Staff
On Jan. 7, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services issued the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 (Eighth Edition). Happy New Year! That’s at least true for the minority of Americans currently meeting the guidelines and inspiration for the rest.
On Dec. 18, President Obama signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill and a package of tax provisions, both of which include items of significant interest and impact to farmers and the agricultural industry. Below is a summary of the two laws. The House of Representatives passed the tax package by a vote of 318-108 and the Omnibus Appropriations bill by a vote of 316-113; the Senate approved the package together with a vote of 65-33.
Pretend for a moment it is an early afternoon in the middle of July in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. I’m on my way to visit the honey bee “girls” in the field. They have been staying with us now for over two weeks and have settled into a predictable routine.
On Nov. 30, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Final Rule setting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements, including the volume requirements for biomass-based diesel for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. The Final Rule sets the biomass-based diesel volumes at the following levels:
The House and Senate Agriculture Committees, along with help from commodity and crop insurance industry groups, secured an agreement from Congressional leadership to reverse the $3 billion crop insurance cut contained in the Bipartisan Budget Act.