Blog

By Tom Bryant, Director of Membership, National Farmers Union Sitting nearly equidistant between the rugged slopes of the Cascade Mountains to the west and the stark beauty of the high desert to the east, the town of Burns has long served as a welcome respite for weary travelers crossing the state of Oregon. Rick Roy and … Read More

By Barbara Patterson, government relations representative, National Farmers Union For years, producers fought for a federal standard for organic to preserve integrity in the label. As a part of the Organic Food Production Act, Congress created the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to assist in the development of standards for substances to be used in … Read More

When it comes to being a beginning farmer, producing food in your first season is only half the battle. Beginning farmers face many challenges such as creating business plans, taking out loans, marketing their products, choosing the right insurance and finding the right resources to access all of this information. The newest USDA New Farmers … Read More

By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union In just a few weeks our nation will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. While we enjoy the delicious food, we need to remember to thank family farmers and ranchers for the bounty they provide and support policies that will help them to continue to increase their productivity. Certainly, the … Read More

By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union In just a few weeks our nation will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. While we enjoy the delicious food, we need to remember to thank family farmers and ranchers for the bounty they provide and support policies that will help them to continue to increase their productivity. Certainly, the … Read More

By Janna Raudenbush, Public Affairs Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service, United States Department of Agriculture Four years ago, vegetable farmer Chuck McCool of Rover, Arkansas read an article in his local newspaper about a nearby school that had received a local grant to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into their meal programs. Over the next few … Read More

By Sara Kangas, government relations intern, National Farmers Union Over the past seventy years, intensive livestock operations like animal feeding operations (AFOs) have caused a shift in the culture of American farming. Influenced by scientific and technological advancements and increased efficiency practices, AFOs can now produce larger animals in a faster time span than ever before. … Read More

By Barbara Patterson, government relations representative, National Farmers Union Local control is eroding across the country and examples abound: in 2014, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced her state would block any city from increasing the minimum wage on the local level; Texas made local fracking bans illegal; and the Supreme Court of Ohio struck down … Read More

By Tom Driscoll, government relations representative, National Farmers Union Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first food waste reduction goal for the U.S., calling for a 50 percent reduction in food waste by 2030. Food waste is an important issue for family farmers, and National … Read More

By Barbara Patterson, government relations representative, National Farmers Union Earlier today, trade ministers from each of the twelve Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries held a joint press conference in Atlanta to announce that after seven years of negotiations the group had come to an agreement. This trade agreement is a major deal that, if ratified, will … Read More

By Congressman Chris Gibson (NY-19) The average age of the American farmer is 58, and farmers over the age of 65 outnumber farmers under the age of 35 by a margin of six to one. As the majority of our farmers near retirement, we will need at least 100,000 new farmers to take their place. … Read More

 By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union October is National Cooperative Month, a point on the calendar when more than 29,000 cooperatives from across the nation undertake some form of educational outreach to ensure that people better understand the cooperative business model and how it can improve life for rural Americans. And cooperatives are more … Read More

By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union We’ve been here before. Two years ago, an early October blizzard – the Atlas storm – buried western South Dakota in three feet of snow, killing tens of thousands of cattle and wiping out entire herds. Ranchers, devastated, looked to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for help. … Read More

By Barbara Patterson, government relations representative, National Farmers Union The town of Smithfield, Virginia, located in the southeast part of the state, has a long history of animal production. The famous Smithfield ham, a product with a geographical indicator that requires all of its production be done within the city limits, originated in the town … Read More

By Tom Driscoll, government relations representative, National Farmers Union The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently took important steps in building climate resiliency, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to pay attention. Climate change jeopardizes the security of the global food system and the viability of family farms and rural communities. Farmers and ranchers … Read More

 By Zack Clark, government relations representative, National Farmers Union The August release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) World Supply and Demand (WASDE) report drove low crop prices lower on the news of higher than expected production after a particularly wet spring in parts of the Midwest. Sustained low prices are impacting the rural … Read More

 By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union For generations, Farmers Union activists have come from across the land by bus, plane, automobile or train to bring the issues affecting the nation’s farm families directly to their members of Congress. And some of the participants have made several dozen trips to the nation’s capital over the … Read More

 By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union NFU ‘s strength, as a federation of member states, relies largely on the activism, energy and commitment of its members, who are engaged in all aspects of policy making. Three Farmers Union states are observing their 100th year anniversary in 2015, and should all be commended for a … Read More

 By Rochelle Bitz, education intern, National Farmers Union To say that the National Farmers Union education program played a part in my “growing up,” is an understatement. The education program was a good chunk of my time spent on learning way more than I ever could have in a classroom. I started attending Farmers Union … Read More

By Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union Oftentimes, it’s not until life presents us with new obstacles that we reassess the situation, discover untapped resources, unused talent or new approaches that could be harnessed to meet the challenge. The lack of abundant rainfall for farming certain crops, for example, has led to the development of … Read More

 By Doug Sombke, president, South Dakota Farmers Union For most of my life, making a living as a farmer meant trying to make ends meet knowing that commodity prices were almost always going to be relatively flat, while production costs rose yearly. The price of a bushel of corn was stuck in the $2.00 range … Read More

 By Jim Benham, president, Indiana Farmers Union It seems Indiana’s farmers are facing too much rain, or drought; or it’s too hot too early, or too cold to soon, or there’s the late spring freeze or the early fall freeze. It’s either feast or famine in farming, and we’ve developed tools and techniques for coping … Read More

 By Daniela Silva, government relations intern, National Farmers Union Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be accepting new applications starting December 1, 2015, through February 26, 2016, to participate in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Secretary Vilsack is specifically targeting the “800,000 additional acres of highly … Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 1, 2015 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 [email protected] WASHINGTON (June 1, 2015) – National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson today urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adhere to Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume targets as set forth in federal law and asked Congress to resist changing the popular fuel … Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 1, 2015 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 [email protected] WASHINGTON (June 1, 2015) – National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson today urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adhere to Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume targets as set forth in federal law and asked Congress to resist changing the popular fuel … Read More