Agribusiness Update for Thursday 7/18/13

Agribusiness Update for Thursday 7/18/13

This is the Agribusiness Update...I’m Greg Martin...

It’s been confirmed that the House sent its farm-only farm bill to the Senate. Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Thad Cochran have started the process of sending the Senate farm bill back to the House so conference can begin. Stabenow said this is an opportunity to move forward and put together a bill that affects 16-million people in the U.S. that work in agriculture.

Perhaps farm robots are the answer to labor shortages and the unknowns of immigration reform. At the same time - they might help producers reduce costs, increase quality and yield a more consistent product. But most ag robots won’t be available commercially for at least a few years. Farmworker advocates argue mechanization would mean lost jobs, the use of more pesticides and the food supply becoming less safe.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell pressed oil industry leaders on recent West Coast gas price spikes and called for greater transparency in gasoline markets and refinery shutdowns. During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Cantwell raised the need for better oversight of gasoline markets and refineries on the West Coast.

That’s today’s Agribusiness Update from the Ag Information Network. 

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