Bruce I. Knight

While the best tomato may always be the ripe off the vine, warm and delicious variety picked in your own backyard, nutritious foods come from many places. The largest portion of USDA’s budget goes towards nutrition programs to increase food security and reduce hunger. How can we best utilize those dollars while promoting good nutrition […]

February 28 marks the second in a series of Senate Ag Committee Farm Bill Hearings with the focus of “Strengthening Conservation through the 2012 Farm Bill.” Read Bruce’s Agri-Pulse opinion piece on this topic has he discusses how to get the most conservation with the money we have to spend. Bruce is a regular contributor […]

Over the next five weeks, the Senate Committee on Agriculture will be holding four hearings on various aspects of the next farm bill. Bruce will be focusing a series of his Agri-Pulse opinion postings on the topics of each hearing with his perspectives on some concerns and opportunites. Read his first post in the series.

Bruce is pleased to be a regular contributor to Agri-Pulse. Read his January post here about the need to plan at this time of year — not only for spring planting — but also for conservation and the improvements that can be made by taking advantage of various programs.

What’s next? With the collapse of the supercommittee, conservation is still well-positioned for inclusion in a Farm Bill in the coming year. Read Bruce’s assessment in his December opinion piece in Agri-Pulse.

Bruce’s November Agri-Pulse opinion piece is now online. Read this post as Bruce continues his theme of how government can embrace new technology and makes suggestions for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to move forward more quickly in evaluating and approving new biotechnology crop varieties.

Technology must be the driver as our nation’s farmers gear up for the challenges ahead in meeting demands to feed the ever-increasing population while still providing safe and healthy food supplies for all. What can government do to support the development and implementation of new technologies? While the Natural Resource Conservation Service has taken initial […]

Conservation and productivity are not adversaries, and Bruce builds on the idea that the two should go hand-in-hand as producers focus conservation efforts on working lands in his September Agri-Pulse Opinion Piece. Not only is it good sense for our environment, but the investments in proven conservation practices do pay for the producer. Read Bruce’s […]

In July’s Agri-Pulse opinion piece, Bruce talked about strengthening conservation through consolidation. This month, he suggests that crop insurance can be strengthened through conservation. Read his post regarding his thoughts for how crop insurance programs and conservation efforts can be tied together for a win-win all-around.

Bruce’s July Agri-Pulse opinion piece was just posted. Read his post with his thoughts for consolidating the over 20 agricultural programs, subprograms and initiatives into one cost-share program, one easement program, and one stewardship program.