Nominations are now being accepted for farmers and ranchers to serve on local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees. These committees make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2025 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2025. 

Elections for committee members will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA). LAAs are elective areas for FSA committees in a single county or multi-county jurisdiction and may include LAAs that are focused on an urban or suburban area. 

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Mark McCully has served the American Angus Association as Chief Executive Officer since 2019. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with McCully at the recent Beef Improvement Federation meeting to discuss the disappointment some cattle industry members are feeling after the American Angus Association accepted grant money from the Bezos Earth Fund to research methane efficiency in cattle on grass as part of a multi-country research project. Part one of this conversation was posted yesterday; today, the conversation continues.

McCully emphasized that the Angus Association has no intention of joining the climate change debate; rather, the reason for the research is to minimize the biological fact that methane emissions from cattle equate to energy loss. “If we can find those cows that lose less energy and can convert more of that energy to pounds of calf weaned, that’s what we are trying to do,” he clarified.

258 food and agriculture groups representing millions of American farmers, ranchers, producers, and manufacturers sent a letter calling on the Make America Healthy Again Commission to create greater transparency and input in the commission’s activities. The groups raised concerns that the erroneous representations about food and agriculture, as well as the poor evidence used to support those findings, could have been avoided if there had been greater opportunities for stakeholders to participate and provide input to the commission.

To prevent future misrepresentations and errors, the groups specifically call for formal inclusion of food and agriculture representatives in the commission’s processes moving forward, as well as the opportunity for public comment on all future reports and activities.

“We are deeply concerned with reports that the Department of Homeland Security has issued new guidance reversing course on last week’s actions and urging a resumption of enforcement actions on farms and other agribusinesses. This directly contradicts the commitments made by President Trump to America’s farmers and ranchers, first in April and again last week. We continue to monitor the situation on the ground at farms, packing houses, and other ag facilities around the country so that all parts of this Administration are held to that commitment. In addition, the uncertainty created by these seeming policy shifts are doing grave damage to producers and their ability to help feed their fellow citizens.”

Since 1929, NCFC has been the voice of America’s farmer cooperatives. Our members are regional and national farmer cooperatives, which are in turn consist of nearly 2,000 local farmer cooperatives across the country. NCFC members also include 17 state and regional councils of cooperatives. Farmer cooperatives allow individual farmers the ability to own and lead organizations that are essential for continued competitiveness in both the domestic and international markets.

America’s farmer-owned cooperatives provide a comprehensive array of services for their members. These diverse organizations handle, process and market virtually every type of agricultural commodity. They also provide farmers with access to infrastructure necessary to manufacture, distribute and sell a variety of farm inputs. Additionally, they provide credit and related financial services, including export financing.

Tim Tebow – two-time national champion, Heisman Trophy winner, College Football Hall of Fame inductee, first-round NFL draft pick and former professional baseball player – will address attendees as closing general session keynote speaker during the 2026 American Farm Bureau Convention on Monday, Jan. 12.

Tebow is a five-time New York Times best-selling author, speaker and college football analyst but is most passionate about his work with the Tim Tebow Foundation, with its mission to bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The foundation is currently fighting for some of the most vulnerable people around the world in more than 90 countries.