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The 2024 Kansas legislative session began on January 8, and we were honored to be at the capitol throughout the week to greet new members and welcome back returning legislators on your behalf. This year marks the second year of our legislative biennium, meaning all bills introduced in 2023 will still be alive and actionable, in addition to any new bills introduced this year. Republicans still hold a supermajority in the House under Speaker Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita) and in the Senate under Senate President Ty Masterson (R-Andover). A handful of Republican...

Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association co-signed a letter to the United States Dept. of Agriculture in support of five proposed exemptions to genetic modifications in plants. USDA's proposal would exempt additional plant varieties indistinguishable from varieties developed using conventional breeding, and thus do not warrant continued oversight under 7 C.F.R. Part 340. The letter addresses: Benefits of gene editing for food, agriculture and the environment; General support and feedback on the proposed exemptions; As well as additional considerations. The letter states, in part, "Importantly, these exemptions would allow some in the U.S. agricultural...

Beginning Jan. 09, 2024 in Topeka, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) is hosting the first of its six annual NH3 safety workshops. The association encourages anyone who is a frequent user or distributor of anhydrous ammonia, as well as first responders, to attend and receive up-to-date training on safe practices concerning NH3. “As an association, we always look to create training programs emphasizing safety for our membership and the public in general,” KARA president and CEO Ron Seeber said. “Although NH3 is a common input, it still poses hazards if it’s...

The selection committee for the Tomorrow’s Agribusiness Leaders (TAL) program met in early-December to review applications and select five members of the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and five members of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association to comprise the 26th class of agribusiness’ premier leadership development course. The selection committee of TAL alumni chose: Nolan Allison (Bartlett Grain A Savage Company); Dusty Campbell (Producer Ag, LLC); Michael Carpenter (Stockton Farmers Union Mercantile and Shipping Association); Lance Cochran (Kennedy Berkley); Dalton Gantz (D.E. Bondurant Grain, Inc.); Nathan Larson (MKC); Kevin Lee (FMC);...

Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association President and CEO Ron Seeber was elected chairman of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City at the group’s annual meeting held December 14, 2023. Kristie Larson, Strategic Relationship Manager, The DeBruce Foundation, was elected vice chairman. Seeber assumed his current position with the three associations in 2017 after working for the groups since July 2008. An expert in state and federal legislative affairs, Seeber also worked for Senator Bob Dole in policy and political capacities.  He has spent his entire career in the regulatory arena. Kristie Larson...

During its annual conference, the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) honored Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association's (KARA) longtime member, Mid Kansas Cooperative (MKC), with its Retailer of the Year award in front of approximately 600 attendees. The Retailer of the Year award, sponsored by Bayer and supported by The Scoop magazine, annually honors an ARA member retailer company or individual that displays effective employee relations, environmental stewardship, customer reliability, industry leadership, and more. "We applaud the entire MKC team for earning this honor," KARA President and CEO Ron Seeber said. "Throughout my time working...

The Asmark Institute has released its 2024 Safety Data Sheets Manual. The manual is designed for use at agrichemical facilities. It contains safety data sheets for agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, fuels, paints and shop materials. It holds more than 1,800 pages of 800+ safety data sheets. PURCHASE A MANUAL...

Due to a new seed statute requiring wholesales seed dealers to ensure the dealer to whom they are selling seed is registered with the state, Kansas Dept. of Agriculture has developed a new searchable database for currently active seed dealers registered in Kansas. The link to this database is on the KDA website at https://agriculture.ks.gov/Seed, or can be accessed directly through the link https://portal.kda.ks.gov/plant/public/lookup/dealers. The dealer search can be filtered by Dealer Name, License Number, County or Seed Type (Wholesale, Retail or Both). This database allows for the look up of both Live...

Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association co-signed a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focusing on the importance of agricultural herbicide uses, while highlighting the concerns of the agency's proposed Endangered Species Act (ESA) Herbicide Strategy. On July 26, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its draft Herbicide Strategy aimed at protecting federally endangered and threatened (listed) species from conventional agricultural herbicides for public comment. The letter also commented on the strategy's lack of compliance options for producers/applicators; the financial cost of proposed conservation practices; the anticipated harm the proposal...

Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) participated in a public comment session on Kansas Dept. of Agriculture's (KDA) proposed amendments to seed regulations. KDA's proposed amendments to its regulations under the Kansas seed law, K.S.A. 2-1415, et seq. include changes to: Labeling prohibitions; definitions of noxious weed seed; official analysis; restricted weed seed; prohibited weed seed and seed offered for sale. KARA's senior vice president of government affairs and general counsel Randy Stookey represented the association by testifying to KARA's position on restricted weed seed and seed offered for sale. KARA's full comment...

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