We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Terms and Cookie Policy
Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, December 06, 2024
This week's guest is Steve Griffin. Griffin is president of CVision Corporation. He holds degrees from Oklahoma State University and Iowa State University in agricultural economics and has over twenty five years of experience in public and private service. He has developed startup companies and created historic firsts in the federal crop insurance program. Griffin specializes in crop risk management and insurance product development with pricing and reinsurance as a part of that enterprise. Griffin is an educator in agricultural economics, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and quantitative business decision-making. He teaches at two universities in the Des Moines, Iowa area.
Karl Brooks has worked as a lawyer, Idaho state senator, University of Kansas professor, environmental author and most recently was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) Region 7, based in Kansas City. In this weeks Agri-Pulse Open Mic, he talks about the controversial topic of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) flyovers of confined animal feeding operations, where small airplanes are used to check for potential violations of the clean water act. Its a practice dating back to when a Republican president first created the EPA. Brooks also talks about his willingness to listen to the agricultural community and how producers investments in new technology have helped improve environmental quality.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, who represents Pennsylvania's most rural district, also chairs the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy & Forestry. In this weeks' Agri-Pulse Open Mic, the GOP Congressman talks about the 2012 farm bill that's expected to move forward in the House Agriculture Committee on July 11 and how he hopes to strengthen voluntary, conservation programs in what will be his first farm bill. Thompson, who describes farmers as "the original environmentalists" also calls for a smaller, leaner and more effective Environmental Protection Agency, which he describes as currently "out of control. "
With the world's population expected to grow to nearly nine billion by 2050, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that global food production must double by that time. Our guest this week on Agri-Pulse Open Mic, Jay Vroom, talks about the important role that science-based, modern farming practices, which use fewer inputs while leading to increased productivity, can play in feeding a growing, hungry world. As President and CEO of CropLife America, he also talks about challenges the industry is facing with herbicide and weed resistance and why he has invited some of the industrys biggest critics to annual dialogues with his members. And with the presidential election less than five months away, Vroom talks about the importance of the rural vote
With 2012 designated as the International Year of Cooperatives, Chuck Conner, CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives has been busy sharing the benefits of farmer-owned cooperatives. In this weeks Open Mic, taped June 1, he also talks about the need to resolve regional differences in the 2012 farm bill writing process. Conner brings a unique perspective to this issue. For nearly 20 years, he served on the staff of Senator Richard Lugar and was the staff director of the Senate Agriculture Committee during the 1996 farm bill process. Prior to joining NCFC from 2005-2008, he was Deputy Secretary of Agriculture at USDA and helped lead development of President George W. Bush Administrations Farm Bill proposal. He also talks about Sen. Lugar's stunning defeat in the Indiana GOP primary and Gov. Romneys presidential campaign.
Six years ago, Amy Klobuchar became the first woman elected to represent the State of Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. Today, the former chief prosecutor in the states largest county joins us on Agri-Pulse Open Mic. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, she talks about the vote last week to advance the 2012 farm bill and her expectations for amendments on crop insurance and other issues. She also points to the importance of getting a farm bill passed this year in order to keep the rural economy strong and her perspective on future trade agreements.