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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, November 28, 2024
While the dairy industry has seen improved financial stability this year, Tom Gallagher CEO of Dairy Management Incorporated says the combination of larger global supplies and unstable economies makes the 2015 dairy outlook more challenging. Domestically, Gallagher says DMI has signed seven different partnerships to boost fluid milk consumption to a health and wellness minded consumer base. The effort will see an investment of over half a billion dollars in new packaging and new products to grow market share at home and with consumers around the world.
Along with other food and beverage manufacturers, the Snack Food Association opposes individual state mandated food labels. Tom Dempsey, CEO of the SFA says their members aren't concerned about the safety of foods with ingredients from genetically enhanced crops but they do support a single federal law regarding food labeling and GMOs. Dempsey says the menu of snack foods continues to expand and is finding a larger share of consumer's diets with portable foods consumed between meals.
Amid unease in the strength of the domestic and global economy the Farm Credit Administration has seen growth in the quantity and quality of loans. Dr. Jill Long Thompson Board Chair and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration believes the 2014 farm bill provides the risk management tools tools producers need to weather the cyclical shift in commodity prices and pending higher interest rates. Remembering the farm crisis in the 1980's and the meltdown in the financial sector in 2008, Thompson says the Farm Credit Administration and the Farm Credit system are working to ensure a safe and sound lending system for generations to come.
Jeff Nalley
Dr. Jill Long Thompson Board Chair and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration
Challenged to enhance sustainability and increase productivity, the crop industry continues to search for new scientific benchmarks to meet the growing demand for food, fiber and fuel. Jim Blome, President and CEO of Bayer CropScience says the company is heavily invested in discovering new benchmarks in genetics, conventional plant breeding, biologics, and crop protection. Blome says the crop science industry needs consistent and predictable domestic and global regulatory system to give farmers access to new innovations in the industry.
Members of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives have real concerns with the EPA regulatory proposals for waters of the US and are hopeful congress will step up with meaningful immigration reform. Chuck Conner says while farmers are busy in their fields with the 2014 harvest, cooperative members are on task with handling, drying and storing an expected record corn and soybean crop this year.
Field to Market is a diverse multi-stakeholder alliance including nearly every aspect of the food supply chain to define sustainability in today's agriculture and provide food for future generations. This group of farmers, food manufacturers, agribusinesses and conservationists is guided by science and outcomes to help farmers become better stewards. Fresh from a White House meeting on this topic, President Rod Snyder explains how the sum of their effort is a better understanding of the balance of nature and the growing need for more and better food.
