Two Maryland leaders showed their support for a bill that would move the state’s seafood and aquaculture marketing program to another departmen.   Governor Larry Hogan and agriculture secretary Joe Bartenfelder toured the J.M. Clayton crab processing plant in Cambridge in support of House Bill 120, which would move the marketing from the Department of Natural Resources back to the Maryland Department of Agriculture.  HB120 will move the program back to the Agriculture Department, where it will join the existing Agriculture Marketing and Development Program. [node:read-more:link]

John Deere & Co. (DE) appears to have relied on “disciplined cost management” to plow through what has been considered the roughest period in the farming since the Depression.  Friday, some analysts say they hope to see that the deep double-digit dips in revenues and profits, choked by low commodity prices and weak farm incomes, have slowed down. [node:read-more:link]

State Senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) has introduced a bill designed to help improve the living conditions of seasonal farmworkers.    An affordable housing shortage has forced many farmworker families into unsafe and unhealthy living conditions, according to a news release.   "The hardworking folks that help grow the world's food shouldn't have to choose between putting a roof over their family's heads and feeding their children," said Vidak. Many farmers have the land and want to build housing for their seasonal employees, but zoning ordinances often prevent them from doing so. [node:read-more:link]

There’s a simple step consumers can take to cut waste: Rethink “fresh.” It’s a word we associate with food that’s wholesome and good-tasting. And there’s no argument about a just-picked tomato or a just-caught striped bass; those are the tastes that drive me to grow tomatoes and catch fish. But most tomatoes and fish don’t come to us just-picked or just-caught. They come to us after having been picked or caught, packed and shipped, warehoused and displayed. Because “fresh” signifies “perishable,” especially when it comes to produce and seafood, there’s a lot of waste in that system. [node:read-more:link]

The House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday approved H.R. 953, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, which would clarify congressional intent regarding pesticide regulation in or around waters of the United States, and H.R. 1029, the Pesticide Registration Enhancement Act, which reauthorizes the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act PRIA was intended to create a more predictable and effective evaluation process for affected pesticide decisions by coupling the collection of fees with specific decision review periods. [node:read-more:link]

Monsanto has been served with a second lawsuit over the off-label dicamba drift damage that occurred in 10 states in 2016.  The new case, a class action suit filed in U.S. District Court in Missouri, has two farmers from that state as lead plaintiffs. The lawsuit was filed by Randles and Splittgerber, LLP, a Missouri-based legal firm that also sued Monsanto over dicamba drift in November 2016 on behalf of Bader Farms, a Missouri fruit and row-crop operation. [node:read-more:link]

Natalina Sents, a recent Iowa State graduate in ag business, has been crisscrossing the country as part of a yearlong project sharing farmers’ stories on a blog, whyifarm.com. The project, funded by Beck’s Hybrids seed.   “I have talked to some very strong men, whose families have not seen them cry for a very long time, if ever,” she said. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. dairy industry faced difficult economics in 2016 with dropping milk prices. However, many producers felt the government safety net in the 2014 farm bill did little to help.  As work starts on the 2018 farm bill, the House Agriculture Committee heard shortcomings of the present act and challenges of a farmer-friendly version.  Scott Brown, University of Missouri Extension dairy economist, testified Feb. 15 in Washington, D.C., before the committee in the House of Representatives.  Dairy policy is not easy, Brown testified. [node:read-more:link]

In hopes of courting more specialists in science, technology, engineering and math to Maine, the Harold Alfond Foundation is rolling out a new grant program to help them pay off college debts. With an initial investment of $5.5 million, the Alfond Leaders competitive grant program will give about 150 recipients up to $60,000 in college debt relief per person over the next three years, the foundation announced Tuesday. The grants will be administered by the Finance Authority of Maine. [node:read-more:link]

Expanded immigration enforcement and potential trade renegotiation are casting a shadow over Kansas City area residents and businesses. Both topics surfaced Wednesday during an agricultural trade forum at Union Station. Talk focused mostly on trade and President Donald Trump’s calls to renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement that covers the United States, Canada and Mexico. “For all those who are thinking about renegotiating NAFTA, our request is do no harm first and foremost,” said Neil Herrington, executive director of the Americas for the U.S. [node:read-more:link]