Comments from Vilsack about milk pricing law

It seems that the Farm Bill has been shadowed by all the discussion about the fiscal cliff, but it is closely related. As a dairy products lover, this article has me concerned. Comments from Vilsack about milk pricing law Here's hoping that an agreement can be reached very soon and that Congress is able to finally pass a Farm Bill this year. No Farm Bill could result in some pretty drastic changes for everyone.

Merry Christmas to you! (And be sure to leave some milk for Santa with his cookies.)

Support an Ohio Farmer's Voice - Janice Wolfinger

Tomorrow is the last day to vote for an Ohio farmer who is a Faces of Farming and Ranching Finalist for the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. Janice Wolfinger and her husband Jake have a cow-calf farm in eastern Ohio and a feedlot in Nebraska. I've known Janice (Poorman then) since I was an FFA member in high school. Janice graduated from Sheridan High School in Perry County the same year I did. She has a blog of her own called For the Love of Beef. She has a true gift for writing and is an excellent spokesperson for agriculture.

Please click here to learn more about Janice and her family and to vote for her as a Face of Farming and Ranching.

US 2012 Census of Agriculture

Today I received a packet in the mail from USDA about the US 2012 Census of Agriculture. If you have completed one of these in the past, then you should see one in your mailbox soon. You can either complete the paper copy and mail it back or you can complete it online here. The census is due by February 4, 2013.

This in-depth survey is conducted every five years by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). It captures a complete count of all U.S. farms, ranches and those who operate them.  

According to NASS "the Census also helps tell the whole story of U.S. agriculture. Without the information collected we wouldn’t know that 3 million farmers in the United States, only one percent of our total population, provide feed, fuel, and fiber to the other 99 percent. While that seems like a huge task, we know that farmers are stepping up to the challenge because the data tell us that U.S. agriculture is growing."

For more information about the Census, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov or call 1-888-4AG-STAT (1-888-424-7828).