LINCOLN — An upcoming Nebraska Extension webinar will feature Jay Rempe, senior economist with Nebraska Farm Bureau, discussing recent shocks in the cattle industry and producer response in the state.
“Troubles in the Cattle Markets: A Farm Organization’s Response” will be presented at noon Thursday, Sept. 24, by the extension Farm and Ranch Management team in the Department of Agricultural Economics, as part of its weekly webinar series.
Events over the last year have driven to the surface long-standing questions concerning the cattle markets and market structure, which have resulted in numerous proposals being offered in Washington D.C. In response, the Nebraska Farm Bureau created a task force of cattle producers to study current markets and offer policy suggestions and recommendations. Rempe will discuss recent market events, responses by producers, the task force’s work and what has been learned about Nebraska’s cattle industry relative to the country.
A graduate of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Rempe majored in agribusiness as an undergraduate and earned a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics in 1993.
As the senior economist at Nebraska Farm Bureau, he his responsible for agricultural economic outlook, policy analysis, research and education programs. He previously served as vice president of governmental relations for Farm Bureau.
Registration for the webinar is free and can be completed at farm.unl.edu/webinars.
Groups urge EPA to act swiftly, re-register dicamba products
LINCOLN — A wide ranging group of Nebraska agriculture organizations is urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to move swiftly to re-register over-the-top, post-emergence dicamba products.
Dicamba is a widely used crop protection product in Nebraska, but future access and use by farmers is dependent on EPA re-labeling dicamba products, as legal action forced the EPA to vacate the label for several dicamba products this past summer.
In a Sept. 10 letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, the presidents of the Nebraska Agri-business Association, Nebraska Cooperative Council, Nebraska Corn Growers Association, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Grain and Feed Association, and the Nebraska Soybean Association urged timely action on re-registration noting that farmers are already beginning to make decisions about purchases of seed and crop protection products for the 2021 planting season.
The groups requested EPA issue new, simple, and understandable registrations for the dicamba products so farmers can appropriately plan for the coming year.
In seeking re-registration, the groups noted that dicamba herbicides used on dicamba-tolerant crops are a critical technology for farmers working to produce more food and fuel using fewer natural resources and agricultural inputs. The interests also noted that while other products exist, a diverse selection of crop protection products is vital to combat and prevent herbicide resistance.
