SARL Members and Alumni

It began on a whim: a challenge from a friend to branch out into politics and run for office. It blossomed into a decade-long career of fighting for local farmers, statewide education funding and mental health provisions for prisoners.  Now Tara A. Sad, of Cheshire House District 1, is readying her exit from New Hampshire politics. The Democratic representative from Walpole won’t run for re-election to the statehouse. For Sad, political enthusiasm has never been in short supply. [node:read-more:link]

While minorities have made some political gains in recent decades, they remain significantly underrepresented in Congress and nearly every state legislature though they comprise a growing share of the U.S. population, according to an analysis of demographic data by The Associated Press. The disparity in elected representation is especially large for Hispanics, even though they are now the nation's largest ethnic minority.  A lack of political representation can carry real-life consequences, and not only on hot-button immigration issues. [node:read-more:link]

There’s no doubt trade is critically important to the agricultural economy, particularly in places such as Manitoba where the productivity of farmers far exceeds the appetite of the resident population. As the province’s Minister of Agriculture Ralph Eichler pointed out Tuesday in his presentation to the Senate committee studying agricultural trade, two-thirds of the food products manufactured in Manitoba leave the province. Improved market access and fair trade rules are important. [node:read-more:link]

Bayer AG’s bid to buy Monsanto Co. for more than $60 billion has hit an impasse that could pose a challenge for the blockbuster agriculture tie-up. Bayer has offered to buy the U.S. seed giant for $62 billion including debt, or $122 a share, which Monsanto last month rejected as too low. [node:read-more:link]

North Dakotans on Tuesday soundly rejected a law enacted last year that changed decades of family-farming rules in the state by allowing corporations to own and operate dairy and hog farms.  Some 75 percent of North Dakotans who went to the ballot box voted to repeal Senate Bill 2351. The law, signed into law in March 2015 by Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple, exempted dairy and swine production from the state's Depression-era corporate farming prohibition. [node:read-more:link]

The Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) federal case is coming to a close. DMWW sued Sac, Calhoun, and Buena Vista Counties in Iowa, as trustees of numerous Iowa Drainage Districts. After the complaint was filed by DMWW, the Counties sought summary judgment in federal court regarding the Clean Water Act (CWA) issues. The U.S. District Court referred the common law issues to the Iowa Supreme Court for review and decision. The CWA claims are now fully briefed. The Drainage Districts filed their reply brief on May 31, 2016. It is a homerun. [node:read-more:link]

 Faced with an influx of cranberries from Wisconsin and Quebec, agriculture officials have made a series of recommendations they hope will revitalize the 200-year-old Massachusetts cranberry industry and allow it to remain competitive.      In a report to lawmakers, the Massachusetts Cranberry Revitalization Task Force, created by the Legislature in 2015, identified possible areas of innovation in cranberry farming, such as making renewable energy options more viable for growers and doing more to conserve water. [node:read-more:link]

State Sen. David Johnson, one of the senior members of the Iowa Senate, says he has suspended his Republican Party membership to protest "the racist remarks and judicial jihad" by presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. [node:read-more:link]

Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small financial contributions from a large number of people. The most well-known types of crowdfunding are internet-based and typically involve a donation instead of an investment. The Montana Legislature, however, enacted a unique kind of Montana-based crowdfunding law. Under the new law, the company must complete an application available on the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance website and pay a fee before soliciting investors. All investors in the crowdfunding project must be Montana residents. [node:read-more:link]

The new CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers wants to make sure farmers have a strong voice in writing the 2018 Farm Bill.  Chandler Goule will begin July 5 as the organization’s top executive in Washington, D.C. He is moving over from his previous job as senior vice president of programs at the National Farmers Union.  Goule said both organizations are grassroots, farmer-driven organizations. [node:read-more:link]