The members of two Ohio cooperatives have voted to consolidate the operations of Southwest Landmark, Inc. and Advanced Agri-Solutions, Inc. The new organization, Trupointe, Inc. will begin operations on September 1st, 2010 to serve more than 4400 farmer members.

The ABN's Lindsay Hill has more on this story.

Monday the ABN's Gary Jackson was in Grapevine, Texas where he covered The National Biodiesel Conference. As you may expect, there is plenty of talk about the newly formed BCAP Rule, RFS decisions and Tax Credits. Gary covers those issues and more with his guests.

Gary and Joe Jobe, CEO of The National Biodiesel Board, talked about the pros and cons to RFS 2.

Keynote Speaker Don Reynolds, an economist that predicted exactly what happened to the U.S. Economy last year, addresses his thoughts for 2010 and beyond.

USDA announced this morning that it will scrap the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and instead will opt to develop "a new, flexible framework for animal disease traceability in the United States, and undertake several other actions to further strengthen [its] disease prevention and response capabilities."

After listening sessions in 15 cities in the U.S., USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said USDA will "revise the prior policy and offer a new approach to animal disease traceability with changes that respond directly to the feedback we heard."

One of USDA’s first steps will be to convene a forum with animal health leaders for states and Tribal Nations to initiate a dialogue about the possible ways of achieving the flexible, coordinated approach to animal disease traceability that is envisioned. Additionally, USDA will be revamping the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health to address specific issues, such as confidentiality and liability.

Although USDA has a robust system in place to protect U.S. agriculture, USDA said in a release that "with today’s announcement, the Department will also be taking additional actions to further strengthen protections against the entry and spread of disease. These steps will include actions to lessen the risk from disease introduction, initiating and updating analyses on how animal diseases travel into the country, improving response capabilities, and focusing on greater collaboration and analyses with States and industry on potential disease risk overall."

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, says the President understands the need for enhanced support for the existing ethanol industry and greater investment to create jobs, improve our environment and increase our national security.  According to Buis, the President is adding muscle to the bone by investing in new technologies, reforming the loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol to encourage the development of this cutting-edge fuel, and equipping government facilities with Flex Fuel Vehicles.

As for the RFS rules, Buis says there are several improvements from when EPA first proposed the expanded RFS last year. We're pleased with the decision to make volume levels of domestic ethanol retroactive to the first of the year - this is a significant step toward reducing dependence on foreign oil, creating U.S. jobs, and improving the environment.

Next week (February 8th) will be a busy one for The ABN's Andy Vance, Lindsay Hill and Gary Jackson.

Wednesday we cover The Ohio Pork Congress. On Wednesday the Midday Show will be broadcast LIVE from the Trade Show, brought to you by The Ohio Pork Producers Council.

Later in the week on Thursday and Friday, Andy and Lindsay make it a road trip to Louisville, Kentucky for The ABN's coverage of The National Farm Machinery Show! Thanks to John Deere and K Buildings for making those broadcasts possible.

Ohioans for Humane Farms - a group comprised of animal rights organizations and political lobbying groups such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Farm Sanctuary, and the Ohio League of Humane Voters has submitted a petition to the Ohio Secretary of State to place an initiative on the November ballot.

This measure would seek to direct the work of the newly enacted Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board by setting certain standards relative to livestock in place.  In the press release issued today by HSUS, they specifically cited intent to target Ohio's pork and veal industries with the elimination of certain confinement practices, and would threaten Ohio's thriving poultry industry with the elimination of certain cage production practices.

ABN Radio's Lindsay Hill has more details

Lindsay visits with Joe Cornely of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation

You can listen to Lindsay's full interview with Joe here

Gary Jackson covered the story with OFBF's Mike Bumgarner

Ohio Farm Bureau's David White visits with Linday Hill about this development

Conservation leaders from across the nation will gather this week for NACD’s 64th Annual Meeting. The NACD Board of Directors will meet before and during the conference, setting association policy. The association is led by President Steve Robinson of Marysville, Ohio; First Vice President Gene Schmidt of Hanna, Ind.; Second Vice President Earl Garber of Basile, La.; and Secretary/Treasurer Jack Majeres of Dell Rapids, S.D.

The conference will focus on the theme “Committed to Conservation.” General sessions and breakouts will feature an exciting line-up of traditional and new and emerging partners. Attendees can hear the latest conservation policy updates from invited national leaders such as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White, and Farm Service Agency Administrator Jonathan Coppess.

While USDA Secretary Vilsack and EPA Administrator Jackson were noticably absent from the event, attendees did hear from Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Harris Sherman about the role the Natural Resources Conservation Service plays at USDA, and within the Obama administration.

ABN Radio's Andy Vance talked with the Undersecretary about his Mission Area at USDA.

Steve Robinson of Union County is the President of the National Association of Conservation Districts.  He talked with Andy about his term as President, and about the many challenges and opportunities facing Conservation Districts around the country.

Congressman Adam Putnam, representing Florida's 12th District, welcomed attendees to Orlando.  He talked with Andy about some potentially precedent-setting legal action taking place in Florida, and how it might affect water quality regulation and farm families across the country.

Scotts Miracle-Gro is a key partner with Conservation efforts in Ohio, and nationally.  Chris Wible is the Director of Environmental Stewardship for the Ohio-based company, and he talked with Andy about the efforts homeowners and landowners can make, literally in their own yards, to improve water quality and the environment.  Andy also talked with Chris about the partnership between Scotts and the Alliance for the Great Lakes, and how citizens can get involved in protecting Ohio's Great Lake.

Farmers can earn some incentives for trying new Propane equipment on their farm.  Through the Propane Education Research Council's Farm Equipment Efficiency Demonstration (FEED) Program, farmers can take advantage of financial incentives to test propane tools in their operations.  Andy talked with Brandon Robinson of PERC about the program, and how farmers can get involved.

Follow the ABN's Andy Vance on Facebook and Twitter, as well as complete coverage on the ABN family of affiliates across the State and here at BuckeyeAg.com!

ABN Radio's coverage of the National Association of Conservation Districts' Annual Meeting is sponsored by Scotts Miracle-Gro and the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

One of the most pressing topics of discussion at the Cattle Industry Annual Convention in San Antonio this week is the report of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's Governance Task Force.  Co-Chaired by Past NCBA Presidents Jan Lyons of Kansas and John Queen of North Carolina, the Task Force will submit its report and and recommendations to the NCBA Board Saturday.  Expected to recommend a much streamlined Board of Directors backed by a House of Delegates, the proposal has drawn several questions from members even before its official presentaiton to the Board.

Chief among concerns expressed by members in attendence is the so-called firewall between the use of Beef Checkoff dollars for approved versus non-approved tasks.  NCBA serves as the principle contractor for the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the Congressionally mandated and USDA regulated body responsible for the Beef Checkoff.  Checkoff dollars can only be used for activites like research, promotion, and education, and never for legisltative, policy, or regulatory activities undertaken by a trade association like NCBA.

ABN Radio's Andy Vance talked with the new Chair of the Cattlemen's Beef Board, Dan Dierschke of Texas, about the Board's concerns with the NCBA proposal.  Dierschke also discussed the delay by the Secretary of Agriculture in approving and appointing new members to the Beef Board.  Secretary Tom Vilsack has delayed appointing members to replace those retiring at Saturday's meeting of the Board, reportedly due to concerns over "diversity."

Listen to Andy's interview with CBB Chair Dan Dierschke here.  Also, read Andy's commentary on the delay in appointing Board members at Andy's Angle.

Following Andy's conversation with Dierschke, he talked with NCBA President Gary Voogt about the questions he's answered this week about the proposal, and his reassurances that there are no concerns with the sanctity of the firewall.  Voogt also discussed the proposal of the Membership Committee to raise NCBA dues.

Listen to Andy's interview with NCBA President Gary Voogt here.