Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the rules USDA has to follow hiring Farm Service Agency offices is making it hard to fill positions at local USDA service centers.
- Bryce Anderson
- Alan Brugler
- Joel Burgio
- Chris Clayton
- Lori Culler
- Katie Micik Dehlinger
- Brian Ethridge
- Myke Feinman
- David M Fiala
- Mike Fontaine
- Liubov Georges
- Anthony Greder
- Jerry Gulke
- Jerry Hagstrom
- Chris Hill
- Gregg Hillyer
- Greg D Horstmeier
- Duane Howell
- Todd Hultman
- Cliff Jamieson
- Joel Karlin
- Scott R Kemper
- Mary Kennedy
- Rick Kment
- Elaine Kub
- Urban C Lehner
- Loren Lindler
- Dana Mantini
- Rod Mauszycki
- Dan Miller
- Brian L Milne
- Kathy Myers
- Victoria G Myers
- Todd Neeley
- Linda Nellson
- Richard Oswald
- Mike Palmerino
- Jim Patrico
- Russ Quinn
- Joel Reichenberger
- Mary Roth
- Kim Ruberti
- Nick Scalise
- Robin Schmahl
- Beth Schweitz
- Philip Shaw
- Elaine Shein
- Pam Smith
- Richard Smith
- ShayLe Stewart
- Lin Tan
- Tara Trenary
- Emily Unglesbee
- Doug Webster
- Matt Wilde
- Scott Williams
- Elizabeth Williams
- Lance Woodbury
- Cheri Zagurski
Chris Clayton
Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton has been writing and editing for DTN/The Progressive Farmer since 2005 after working more than seven years as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald.
Chris has been recognized as writer of the year by the American Agricultural Editors' Association and won story of the year multiple times from the organization. He also has won the Glenn Cunningham Agricultural Journalist of the Year Award from the North American Agricultural Journalists and served as the group's president in 2012-13. The National Farmers Union and American Coalition for Ethanol also each have named Chris communicator of the year.
Chris graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1993 with a degree in journalism. He has worked for news organizations in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Nebraska. Chris lives in Glenwood, Iowa, with his wife and children.Recent Blogs by Author
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The House passed a bill late Wednesday that would overhaul the H-2A visa program, allowing guest workers to stay in the country longer, and would legalize hundreds of thousands of farm workers...
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US, China Close on Trade Deal
President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed to a trade deal that would hold off on new tariffs and possibly scale back others. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue missed Thursday's trade talks at the White House as he spoke...
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New Ag Labor Bill Touted
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Deal Reached on USMCA
A deal reached Tuesday on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will allow the House of Representatives to vote on the trade pact as early as next week. According to an International Trade Commission report last spring, USMCA would...
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Searching for Demand Drivers
The DTN 2019 Ag Summit kicked off Monday in Chicago with Luke Chandler, chief economist at Deere and Co., offering a look at macroeconomic trends and risks facing producers. Crop prices have largely flatlined over the past five...
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Addressing Ag Issues in Iowa
With 18 candidates running for president and campaigning across the nation, Iowa right now is the center of attention for a core group who see the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses on Feb. 3 as the critical starting point in...
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Questions About Brazil Packer
The U.S. Cattlemen's Association wants the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to look into the purchase of National Beef by Brazil's Marfrig Global Foods.
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China Reduces Ag Tariffs
In a brief statement on its website, the Chinese Finance Ministry on Friday announced it would exclude tariffs for U.S. pork and soybeans into the country to meet domestic demand.
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Ag Calls for USMCA Certainty
Advocates for USMCA's positive impacts on agriculture keep pushing for congressional votes this year on the trade deal, but Congress has about two weeks left in the work year and negotiations continue over labor provisions.
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Finding Environmental Markets
A decade after the biggest carbon market for agriculture in the U.S. collapsed, carbon and ecosystem service markets are truly starting over. One group, the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium, received a $10.3 million grant this...
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My sources tell me the vast majority of turkeys will be eaten, and not pardoned, on Thanksgiving.
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Racing to Iowa's Caucuses
We're a little more than two months from the Iowa Caucuses, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is rising in the field of more established candidates such as Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Pushing from...
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Counting Trade Sustainability
Agricultural export competitors could eventually use the lack of U.S. action on climate to push trade measures. Companies and industries need to show how farmers and their supply chains use sustainability measures to avoid getting...
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USMCA Vote Could Move to 2020
Agriculture has been one of the strongest industries backing passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated Thursday the House might not take up the legislation in 2019.
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China Caught Stealing Ag Tech
A researcher who worked on a key digital nutrient tool for The Climate Corporation and Monsanto was recruited by the Chinese government and offered a position working for a major Chinese soil institute. He was arrested trying...
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Cellulosic Production Idled
POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels in Emmetsburg, Iowa, one of the few commercial cellulosic ethanol plants operating in the country, will pause cellulosic production and focus on research and development. Company officials pointed to the...
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CFTC Chair Keeps Focus on Ag
As the CFTC takes another crack at rules that would place trading limits on speculative noncommercial traders, the commission's new chairman said CFTC has incorporated several recommendations to try to ease some concerns of...
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Stopping Invasive Animals
A House subcommittee held a hearing Thursday on invasive species that included horror stories about feral hogs, swamp rats and non-native insects.
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Brazilians Defend Ag Policies
At a conference in downtown Washington, D.C., Brazilian agribusiness groups sought to shift the narrative by highlighting "sustainable food" and a "science-based model" for agriculture. They also strongly criticized the view that...
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Trade Aid Disparity Claims
A report on the Market Facilitation Program released Tuesday by Senate Democrats challenges USDA's trade aid, arguing the highest payments went to Southern farmers who grow cotton while USDA also ignored typical protocols such...
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China ASF Driving Livestock Trade
Despite tariffs hitting 72% from China, the U.S. reported record pork exports in July and August. USMEF expects that kind of growth to continue into 2020.
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NPPC Campaigns for USMCA
The National Pork Producers Council is making another push to encourage Congress to pass the USMCA before the end of 2019. The group is launching a campaign, "It's Pork O'Clock Somewhere" to highlight pork recipes in Canada, the...
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Republicans Push EPA on RFS
Republican senators from key biofuel states and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds each wrote EPA over its plan to account for small-refinery exemptions. Senators questioned EPA's method for offsetting the exemptions and stated the biofuels...
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China ASF Driving Pork Trade
Despite tariffs hitting 72% from China, the U.S. reported record pork exports in July and August. USMEF expects that kind of growth to continue into 2020.
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New Ag Labor Bill Touted
Ag labor bills have come up in nearly every session of Congress over the past two decades only to whither somewhere in the process. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act introduced on Wednesday has 24 Democrats and 18...
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USDA Details Hemp Rules
On Tuesday, USDA released its long-awaited rules for allowing hemp production nationally. States and tribes will submit plans to USDA for overseeing hemp production in their states or tribal...
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USDA Ready to Issue Hemp Rules
USDA will detail its interim rules for hemp production on Tuesday. The White House Office of Management and Budget has been reviewing the rules since June.
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2020 Flood Risks on Big Muddy
With saturated soils, high reservoir levels and water flows on the Missouri River already high, the possibility of above-normal winter precipitation again leads to a high risk of the 2019 flooding carrying into spring 2020 along the...
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Climate Answers in the Soil
Groups such as USAID, Corteva Agriscience and CGIAR each announced new initiatives to address global food production and climate change challenges at the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue on Wednesday.
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Future Global Food Gap Remains
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Collaborate to Feed the Future
Polly Ruhland, CEO of the United Soybean Board, proposed at the World Food Prize this week that U.S. protein industries should work together to build markets in developing countries. CEOs for private companies also suggested...
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Hemp's Growing Pains
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Trump Signs Japan Deal
A trade deal with Japan signed by President Donald Trump on Monday will lower or eliminate tariffs into Japan's markets for about $7 billion in agricultural products. The U.S. exports about $14 billion to Japan in ag exports now, of...
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USDA Announces DMC 2020
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Biofuels' New Deal
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Rallying for Fair Markets
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Ag Big Winner in Japan Deal
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Topping Up Prevented Planting
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Biofuel Waiting Game Continues
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Lawmakers Spar Over CCC Dispute
A House Agriculture Subcommittee hearing on USDA disaster programs started with the chairman and ranking member of the committee sparring over who is to blame over the dispute that flared this past week over Commodity Credit...
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Ag Secretaries Rally for USMCA
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Ag Chair Says No Hold on CCC Funds
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US-China Trade Talks
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Politics Over MFP Funds
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EPA Ends 2015 WOTUS Rule
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CFTC Fines Trader $1.25 M
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- Bryce Anderson
- Alan Brugler
- Joel Burgio
- Chris Clayton
- Lori Culler
- Katie Micik Dehlinger
- Brian Ethridge
- Myke Feinman
- David M Fiala
- Mike Fontaine
- Liubov Georges
- Anthony Greder
- Jerry Gulke
- Jerry Hagstrom
- Chris Hill
- Gregg Hillyer
- Greg D Horstmeier
- Duane Howell
- Todd Hultman
- Cliff Jamieson
- Joel Karlin
- Scott R Kemper
- Mary Kennedy
- Rick Kment
- Elaine Kub
- Urban C Lehner
- Loren Lindler
- Dana Mantini
- Rod Mauszycki
- Dan Miller
- Brian L Milne
- Kathy Myers
- Victoria G Myers
- Todd Neeley
- Linda Nellson
- Richard Oswald
- Mike Palmerino
- Jim Patrico
- Russ Quinn
- Joel Reichenberger
- Mary Roth
- Kim Ruberti
- Nick Scalise
- Robin Schmahl
- Beth Schweitz
- Philip Shaw
- Elaine Shein
- Pam Smith
- Richard Smith
- ShayLe Stewart
- Lin Tan
- Tara Trenary
- Emily Unglesbee
- Doug Webster
- Matt Wilde
- Scott Williams
- Elizabeth Williams
- Lance Woodbury
- Cheri Zagurski