With a vote of 75 to 24 – the Senate has approved a farm bill amendment that sets a hard cap of 75-thousand dollars on marketing loan gains. The amendment was introduced by Iowa’s Chuck Grassley – a long-time advocate of limits on farm program payments. Grassley says the reform will help to bring more defensibility for the farm program.

Of the amendments that went to a roll call vote Tuesday – the Senate rejected amendments to limit categorical eligibility for the supplemental nutrition assistance program to those who receive cash assistance, to end the state bonus payments for administering SNAP and to improve the program of value-added agricultural producer grants. But amendments to require Federal milk marketing order reform, to require more frequent dairy reporting, to strengthen rural communities and foster the next generation of farmers and ranchers and to encourage the purchase of pulse crop products for school meals programs were approved.

Votes continued through the evening. Amendments to establish an average adjusted gross income limitation of 250-thousand dollars for all payments and benefits under the farm bill, to provide that any entity receiving a business and industry direct or guaranteed loan for a wind energy project is ineligible for any other Federal benefit, assistance, or incentive for the project, to eliminate the organic certification cost share assistance program and to strike a reduction in SNAP and increase funding for the fresh fruit and vegetable program with an offset limiting crop insurance reimbursements to providers were each rejected. Senators agreed to an amendment to require a study into the feasibility of an insurance product that covers food safety recalls.

The Senate rounded out Tuesday’s farm bill voting by rejecting three amendments offered by South Carolina’s Jim DeMint. One to prohibit mandatory or compulsory checkoff programs was opposed by the American Soybean Association. The other two were to prohibit the Secretary from making loan guarantees and to maintain funding at current levels for programs providing access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas.

BOONE, IOWA – June 20, 2012 – Forage Genetics International (FGI), one of the world’s leading alfalfa seed providers, and Syngenta announce the launch of NEXGROW™ alfalfa, a new brand equipped to bring growers the traits and technology they need – now and in the future. The brand will be managed by FGI and sold through existing Garst®, Golden Harvest® or NK® brand alfalfa resellers.

“Growers will see this new brand as a continuation of FGI’s 20 year collaboration with Syngenta in coordination with our leadership in diverse genetics and critical industry traits,” said Brent Johnson, NEXGROW™ alfalfa brand manager. “The only change for growers is the new brand name.  They will have the same great service through their Garst, Golden Harvest or NK brand alfalfa reseller when purchasing alfalfa for fall planting.”

NEXGROW™ alfalfa brings producers the same top yield potential, high forage quality and exceptional persistence they have come to expect from Syngenta and NK brand alfalfas – now unified under one name.

“NEXGROW™ alfalfa has all of growers’ favorite Syngenta and NK brand alfalfa varieties, plus seven new varieties,” said Grant Ozipko, Syngenta crop portfolio head. “Grower favorites like 6422Q, the top winner at World Dairy Expo’s 2011 World Forage Analysis Superbowl, will be available along with varieties that are glyphosate tolerant or highly resistant to potato leafhopper.”

The new alfalfa brand will also offer elite next generation glyphosate tolerant varieties, such as Revolt. Superior late fall dormant varieties with exceptional winter hardiness which dramatically increases yield potential will also be available.

For more information on NEXGROW™ alfalfa, talk to your local Garst, Golden Harvest or NK brand alfalfa reseller or visitwww.plantNEXGROW.com.

According to the Humane Society of the United States – Sonic Drive-In has announced its intention to only accept pork products from suppliers that do not use gestation-sow stalls by the year 2022. Sonic is just the latest in a growing list of restaurants and retail chains to state similar objectives. The National Pork Producers Council has voiced concern with this growing trend – stating that retailers are succumbing to pressure from groups like HSUS without considering the impact on American farm families. University of Missouri Ag Economist Ron Plain recently found that only 17.3-percent of sows spend a portion of gestation in open pens. He surveyed pork operations with one-thousand or more sows and received responses from 70 operations that altogether own about 3.6-million of the nation’s 5.7-million sows.

NPPC President R.C. Hunt – a North Carolina pork producer – said Plain’s survey shows that the food companies haven’t thought through the complexities, logistics or implications of their requests. NPPC says these forced changes on producers’ choice of sow housing could put hog farmers out of business and will certainly increase the price of pork for consumers.