SARL Members and Alumni

From “cow committee” to the New Hampshire Senate floor, dairy farmers inch ever closer to receiving funds to help make up for last summer’s drought.  In a 19-3 floor vote Thursday, state senators moved forward a bill that would provide $2 million to the Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund board to then be distributed to the state’s dairy farmers.  The board recommended that the Legislature appropriate a $3.6 million one-time payment for dairy farmers back in October. [node:read-more:link]

If it hadn’t been for state cost-share money, Ronnie Nuckols said, he wouldn’t have been able to install 14 fences to keep his cattle out of streams.  Nuckols, who farms in Goochland County, is one of countless Virginia farmers who are doing their part to protect the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways by using environment-friendly farming practices. [node:read-more:link]

Vermont agriculture officials are meeting to discuss concerns about how the Trump administration's immigration policy could affect the state's immigrant farm workers who are key to the success of the state's dairy farms.  The University of Vermont Extension Service told the state's agriculture secretary that the state has about 1,000 Latino farm workers, many of whom are living in the country illegally.  Extension employees say a total of 177 out of the state's 818 dairy farms use Latino workers. Republican Gov. [node:read-more:link]

North Dakota dairy producers are taking aim at attracting a specialty dairy products plant in hopes of saving the declining industry. North Dakota has seen a reduction of 350 dairy farms in 2002 to 86 dairy farms today, losing five since the last legislative session. The number of cows is down to 16,000 compared to 40,000 in 2002. Aimed at helping struggling dairy enterprises, a joint study between the North Dakota Dairy Coalition and the South Dakota Department of Agriculture identified the industry’s best options for getting a new processing plant in the area. [node:read-more:link]

On the heels of the introduction of a bill in South Dakota that would require retail beef products sold in the state to bear a country-of-origin label, a committee in the Wyoming House has approved a similar bill.  A majority of House Agriculture Committee members  voted in favor of sending House Bill 198 to the full House of Representatives. [node:read-more:link]

A Utah lawmaker wants to send people to jail for harassing farm animals with drones, all-terrain vehicles and even dogs through a proposal that's unique in the U.S. and has gained an unlikely opponent.  Republican Rep. Scott Chew, who's also a rancher, said Tuesday that he introduced the bill because farmers incur significant costs and hardships when livestock are injured. [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. [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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On Saturday, officials of the company that owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that it will close in May, ending a 146-year run that dates back to a time before automobiles or airplanes or movies, when Ulysses S. Grant was president and minstrel shows were popular entertainment. What killed the circus? There are many suspects: increased railroad costs. [node:read-more:link]

The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, delivered a keynote address yesterday at the Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit of the State Agriculture and Rural Leaders (SARL) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  During his address, Minister MacAulay pledged to work with the incoming U.S. administration and Congress to further strengthen the bilateral agricultural trading relationship between the two countries. He spoke of the many benefits of the Canada-U.S. [node:read-more:link]