By former USDA Secretary John R. Block
You may have heard about the John Duarte wetlands case. John Duarte, a California farmer, bought 450 acres in 2012. He plowed and planted it to wheat. The Army Corps of Engineers, the California Water Qua…
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Tags: Army Corps of Engineers, California, Clean Water Act, Conservation Reserve Program, Duarte, Farm, Farmer, Gary H. Baise, John R. Block, Permit, Plow, Wetlands, WOTUS
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block
I talked this week with John Duarte, a California farmer. He is in trouble. He bought 450 acres in 2012. He plowed it and planted it for wheat. He now faces $2.8 million in civil penalties because he did not ge…
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block
Back in March, President Trump gave us a look at his budget plan. Although without much detail, it made clear to us that one of his highest priorities was to downsize the federal government. And, he would do tha…
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Tags: Agriculture, Budget, Congress, Crop Insurance, Farm Bill, Farmer, Food Stamps, John R. Block, Mulvaney, President Trump, SNAP, Trump Administration, White House, Work Requirement
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block
“Trump’s Tax Plan Would Spur Growth” – that is the headline in a recent Wall Street Journal paper. First, let me say that President Trump’s tax reform plan is not very specific. I think that is goo…
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Tags: Agriculture, Farm Income, Farmer, Feed, Food, High Plains Dairy, John R. Block, Livestock, Milk, Organic, President Trump, Soybeans, Tax Rate, Tax Reform, Trump Administration
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block
I can report that I was on my Illinois farm last week. Weather was beautiful and we planted 360 acres of corn. Then it rained. At least we got started. It is always exciting when you first hit the field…
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Tags: Agriculture, China, Export, Farm Economy, Farm Income, Farmer, John R. Block, President Trump, Thune, TPP, Trade
By Senator Bob Dole and Marshall Matz, as published in Agri-Pulse
Perhaps no sector of the American economy is more dependent on trade than agriculture. It is the life blood of the heartland supporting over 15 million jobs throughout the United Stat…
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Tags: Agriculture, Bob Dole, Canada, Economy, Export, Farmer, Food Aid, Food Security, Marshall L. Matz, McGovern-Dole, Mexico, NAFTA, President Trump, Trade, Trump Administration, United States
A fundamental principle of administrative law is that federal agencies must provide the public with reasonable notice and the opportunity to comment on proposed administrative issuances that impose substantive obligations that did not previously exis…
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Tags: Administrative Procedure Act, Agricultural Retailers Association, Agriculture, Anhydrous Ammonia, Attorney, Elliot Belilos, Farmer, Fertilizer, Labor Department, Law Firm, Lawyer, OFW Law, OSHA, PSM Standard, Stewart D. Fried, The Fertilizer Institute
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block
My agenda for this post will be Labor Day and Tough Times. I want to begin by saying how much respect I have for the hard-working men and women that labor in the trenches day in and day out. I’m not talk…
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As published in Agri-Pulse
“I have sometimes thought it might be well to establish an office of insurance for farms against the damage that may occur to them from storms, blights, insects, etc. A small sum paid by a number would repair such los…
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Tags: Agri-Pulse, Agriculture, Congress, Crop Insurance, Farm Bill, Farmer, Kenneth D. Ackerman, Marshall L. Matz, Nutrition, Risk Management Agency, RMA, SNAP
Anyone who has spent time around political circles in Washington, D.C., knows that, by this point in a presidential campaign, leading candidates have usually gathered around them a network of advisors connecting them to key issues and constituent gro…
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Tags: 2016, Agriculture, Bernie Sanders, Campaign, Donald Trump, Election, Farmer, Food, Hillary Clinton, Kenneth D. Ackerman, Marshall L. Matz, Presidential Campaign, Rancher, Republican, Rural, Ted Cruz
