USDA’s National Agricultural Statistic Service released the 2012 Census of Agriculture, which confirms the trend of the 2007 census of a slowly declining number of small and mid-size operations. The report shows that 33,330 farms and ranches (or 1.6 percent of the total 2.1 million) accounted for half of all farm-product sales.

Don’t expect climate-change stress to settle down anytime soon. In a report recently released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate disruptions to agricultural production are projected to increase over the next 25 years.

The board of directors of the Midwest Forage Association (MFA) is distributing more than $20,000 in Midwest Forage Research Program (MFRP) funding to research projects. Now in its eighth year, the MFRP has funded more than $115,000 in forage-related research projects since its inception.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has initiated a project to develop a new standard for testing drawbar pins on agricultural equipment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $9 million in grant funding for clean diesel projects to reduce diesel pollution and emissions exposure from the nation's existing fleet of diesel engines.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced additional support and resources for America's small and midsized farmers and ranchers. It includes $7 million in university research awards in support of small and midsized producers; $8.8 million in technical assistance for small, socially-disadvantaged producers and Rural Cooperative Centers; and a marketing certification program for small and very small grass-fed beef producers.

The EPA is making available for a public comment period on a proposed regulatory decision to register Enlist Duo containing glyphosate and the choline salt of 2,4-D for use in controlling weeds in corn and soybeans genetically engineered (GE) to tolerate 2,4-D. 
 

On April 29, the House Ways & Means Committee voted 21-14 in favor of legislation H.R. 4457 (sponsored by Ohio Representative Patrick Tiberi and 17 bipartisan cosponsors) that would extend Section 179 expensing allowances, giving businesses the ability to deduct up to $500,000 in equipment costs for a maximum of $2 million worth of property.

The USDA and the Department of the Interior says that farmers, ranchers and landowners implementing Farm Service Agency (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) practices intended to protect and increase lesser prairie-chicken populations will not be subject to additional regulations as a result of the species' listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The genetic makeup of modern corn grown in the U.S. and elsewhere has long roots. Most of it can be traced to Hawaii, where many of the leading corn-growing companies have established farms, “growing new varieties genetically engineered for desirable traits such as resistance to insects and drought,” reads an Associated Press article by Audrey McAvoy and printed in The Washington Post.