800 326 9054Farm state lawmakers race to find path for E15 legislation
Lawmakers worked late into the evening Tuesday in a bid to find a way for long sought-after ethanol legislation to be added to a fiscal 2026 funding package that needs to pass Congress by Jan. 30. The scramble follows the omission of language to allow year-round, nationwide sales of higher ethanol blends, known as E15, from a suite of spending bills released on Tuesday by U.S....
Supreme Court accepts Bayer-Monsanto Roundup case for review
The Supreme Court has granted a petition sought by Bayer subsidiary Monsanto to address whether federal pesticide law pre-empts state product liability law. Specifically, the court said in an order issued Friday that the grant of a writ of certiorari is “limited to the following question: Whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act preempts a label-based...
Regulators reject initial filing for coast-to-coast rail merger
The Surface Transportation Board has unanimously decided to reject Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern’s initial application for a proposed merger, after finding the submission to be incomplete. The board on Friday said the two companies’ merger proposal lacked information necessary for it to consider their plan to create the nation’s first coast-to-coast railroad company....
AFBF president calls for more farm aid, year-round E15 amid ‘toughest economy in a generation’
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, kicking off the annual convention of the nation’s largest farm group Sunday, pushed Congress to provide more farm aid, citing a specific need in the specialty crop sector, and to authorize year-round E15 to drive domestic crop demand. Duvall said the $12 billion farm aid package announced in December to compensate for market...
PLC, ARC signup to be delayed significantly; DMC enrollment to start Monday
The Agriculture Department has finalized some revisions to two major farm commodity programs, including rules for adding new base acres, but signup for the programs won’t be scheduled until after planting season at the earliest, according to a top USDA official. The changes, which take effect for 2026, include increases in reference prices for the Price Loss Coverage program and raising the...
Whip Emmer on farm bill: ‘Don’t expect it’s going to sit on the shelf’
The House has several fiscal 2026 funding bills to pass before Jan. 30, but House Majority Whip Tom Emmer expresses confidence the chamber will complete their work to avert a government shutdown, paving the way for the House Ag Committee to move a farm bill in February. “We can celebrate the greatest farms, the greatest producers, the greatest markets on the face of the planet, but if...
Opinion: Farmers need relief before planting season. Start with fertilizer costs.
To provide much-needed relief to American farm families and consumers, President Donald Trump recently announced a major decision to exclude import levies on more than 200 agricultural products not produced in the U.S. in sufficient quantities. These commodities range from avocados and coffee to fertilizer and key minerals. This move is the right one if our goal is to bring down U.S....
Help Fuel Corn Grower Advocacy in 2026
By Lesly Weber McNitt After spending valuable time with family and friends over the holidays, I was eager to get back to work advocating for the nation’s corn growers. But as my family and I prepared to return to Washington from a trip to Puerto Rico, we learned that the island’s airspace was closed due to the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, causing flight cancellations and delays....
Soybean export concerns cloud farmer outlook
Farmer sentiment weakened a bit last month as producers’ future outlook softened somewhat, and there is ongoing concern about prospects for soybean exports, according to the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. The barometer’s overall index dropped three points to 136 and the index of future expectations fell four points to 140. The index of current conditions was...
Supporters tout efficiency, critics warn of consolidation risks in rail merger debate
Plans by Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to become the first coast-to-coast railroad company are drawing interest from some shippers excited by the prospect of fewer delays, but concern from others about competition. The companies have submitted an initial 6,700 page proposal to the Surface Transportation Board that includes statements of support from some...