OKAgPolicy Today is a morning email containing the day’s top agriculture and policy headlines. The inclusion of a particular story does not equal an endorsement. Subscribe to the email here.
TOP HEADLINES
9 Investigates: Right to Farm measure on November ballot:
Signs urging Oklahomans to vote “Yes on 777″ are a common sight here in rural Major County, where agriculture remains a dominant industry and where the natural question is: who wouldn’t be for the state question that is better known as ‘Right to Farm?’ [News 9]
Senate nears finish line on Flint aid bill:
Lawmakers voted 94-3 to end debate on an amended waterways bill, putting the chamber on track to pass the measure this week. The Senate also adopted a package of bipartisan amendments by voice vote [The Hill].
FEDERAL
Lawmakers, farm groups express concern about Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto:
In the meantime, U.S. farm organizations are encouraging regulators to take a close look “under the hood,” especially as other major industry players like Dow and DuPont and ChemChina and Syngenta are also planning to join forces [Agri-Pulse].
Snags emerge on budget bill:
Senate leaders are struggling to reach agreement on a short-term funding measure to keep the federal government from shutting down. Republican leaders had hoped to pass a stopgap bill running through Dec. 9 as soon as this week so that vulnerable colleagues could return home to campaign [The Hill].
Former ag secretaries debate who’s best for White House:
Former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman says the immigration issue should make Democrat Hillary Clinton the obvious choice for farmers who depend on foreign labor. But John Block, a Republican who also held the top job at USDA, says issues such as regulation, taxes and judicial appointments are also critical to growers, and he doesn’t believe Donald Trump will be as hard on immigration and trade as his rhetoric suggests [Agri-Pulse].
MISCELLANEOUS
While most of U.S. gets a raise, rural areas stand pat:
While the rest of America got a raise last year for the first time since the Great Recession, average rural residents saw their wages remain flat or even fall a bit from 2014 to 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau [Daily Yonder].
From sweeteners to seeds: A timeline of Monsanto’s evolution:
Over its 115-year history, Monsanto has continually reinvented itself through technology and business mergers, marketing products that have both transformed agriculture and fueled heated controversy. Here’s a brief glimpse at how the St. Louis-area company grew from modest beginnings into a global biotech giant [St. Louis Post-Dispatch].
