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A recent study (Income Trends for Iowa Farms and Farm Families 2003-2015) by David Peters, associate professor and extension rural sociologist with Iowa State University, summarized current trends in farm income by type of farm operation and pointed to more specific issues regarding the importance of non-farm income to the financial picture of farm households. The study pointed out that net farm income has dropped the past three years for commercial farms. [node:read-more:link]

Syngenta-ChemChina; Dow-Dupont; Bayer-Monsanto. Three agribusiness mega-mergers are streaking for the goal line in 2017. The only obstacles for these combinations are U.S. and European Union regulators. Will any (or all) of them make it past these watch dogs? Farmers have been wary of these mergers, fearful of paying higher prices for seeds and chemicals. Supporters of the deals cite the staggering research, development and regulatory-approval costs of bringing products to the agricultural market. [node:read-more:link]

A case filed by Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) involving financial damages from treatment of this water recently made its way to the Iowa Supreme Court.  On Friday, January 27, the Iowa Supreme Court resolved one issue associated with the DMWW case; however, non-point source permitting issues under the Clean Water Act will still be considered by a trial court in June. [node:read-more:link]

More than 130 agricultural trade groups and companies have sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in a way that expands on gains it helped the sector achieve. [node:read-more:link]

A group of Wyoming lawmakers is bucking the U.S. trend of supporting renewable energy with a plan to do the opposite: Fine utilities if they provide energy produced by wind or the sun. Blustery Wyoming ranks among the top states for wind-energy potential, but the coal, oil and natural gas industries are the backbone of the state’s economy. With a $360 million budget shortfall in public education caused by downturns in those industries and corresponding state revenue declines, legislators are hard-pressed for solutions. [node:read-more:link]

Dairy farmers are officially on the 2017 legislative docket.  Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley presented a relief funding bill to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday.  “It’s hard to imagine drought after all the moisture we’ve had over the last couple months,” Bradley said. [node:read-more:link]

Earlier this month, Ross Barnhardt and I, along with first-time attendee Senator Bill Rabon, attended the State Agriculture and Rural Leaders (SARL) conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. SARL is a group of state legislators and agriculture industry representatives from across the United States and Canada that get together every year to discuss and study issues and policies affecting the agriculture industry and rural communities. I have had the privilege to attend the conference the past 4 years and have served as a SARL board member for the past several years.  
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The Manitoba government and Roquette today announced a historic investment in the province’s food-processing industry, confirming the France-based company’s plans to build a new, $400-million pea-processing facility near Portage la Prairie.  Premier Brian Pallister and Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler were joined by Edouard Roquette, Roquette’s chairman and Jean-Marc Gilson, Roquette’s CEO, as well as many industry partners for the announcement made at the Legislative Building on Global Pulse Day. [node:read-more:link]

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the Department of Agriculture, senior transition officials tell NBC News.  Perdue served on Trump's agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign. orn and raised in Georgia, the 70-year-old veterinarian served as a state senator for 10 years beginning in 1991. [node:read-more:link]

The way some of the regulations were implemented are actually harming rural America and not fulfilling the ultimate goals of the ACA. And what I mean by that is half of those 37 million - the goal was to expand Medicaid and get those folks into a Medicaid program. We know that a lot of states have taken the Supreme Court up on its option of opting out of Medicaid. That has predominantly hurt rural America. In fact, if you're a rural state, if you're a poor state, more likely than not, you have not expanded Medicaid. So we're seeing millions of folks left behind at that. [node:read-more:link]