Sarah Gonzalez

USDA’s National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) took the opportunity to recognize its thousands of Earth Team volunteers during National Volunteer Week last week.

Rural America appears poised for additional economic gains in the year ahead, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City agricultural and rural analysis written by Vice President and Omaha Branch Executive Jason Henderson and Associate Economist Maria Akers.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized rules under the Dodd-Frank Act today narrowing the definition “swap dealer” and clarifying which commodity market participants must register to face higher oversight.

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2012- The House Committee on Agriculture passed the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2012 with a voice vote along party lines today.

The consistent increase in U.S. farmland values is likely to level out in the coming years, but not through a market “bust,” said a panel of farm credit experts at the Farm Foundation Forum.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a study today linking farming practices to potential drinking water contamination.

The registration and regulation of “swap dealers” is central to the reforms mandated in the Dodd-Frank Act, but the current proposed definition of “swap dealer” might unintentionally include hedging activity, said the Senate and House Agriculture Committees Chairs today.

Frustrated lawmakers attempted to “conduct an autopsy” on how MF Global, a major global financial derivatives broker, failed last year.

Financial institution leaders supported legislation to clarify the reach of the Dodd-Frank Act today during the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk hearing.