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31 Jul

Posted at 07:48h in Industry News, Regulatory
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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 Strategy describes proposed early mitigations for more than 900 listed species and designated critical habitats to reduce potential impacts from the agricultural use of these herbicides. “Ensuring safe use of herbicides is an important part of EPA’s mission to protect the environment,” said Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pesticide Programs for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Jake Li....

27 Jun

Posted at 08:36h in Industry News
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The Kansas Department of Agriculture has been awarded a $6.46 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program. The purpose of the RFSI program is to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain and strengthen local and regional food systems by creating new revenue streams for Kansas producers. Funds will support expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture,...

25 May

Posted at 11:21h in Industry News, Regulatory
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On Thursday, May 25, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in the long-running Sackett v. EPA case to reduce the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate wetlands under the Clean Water Act. The Justices concluded the Clean Water Act extends only to those, "Wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are waters of the United States in their own rights." The Clean Water Act allows the regulation of discharges into what the law calls “waters of the United States.” The question for the justices was how to...

25 May

Posted at 07:32h in Advocacy
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Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association, along with other Kansas-based agricultural organizations, sent a letter to Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D-3rd District) requesting she serve as a sponsor to legislation being circulated by Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota) related to labeling and packaging under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The request cited concerns with recent efforts from some non-Kansas state governments to impose labels directly contradicting federal regulatory findings by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Those efforts risk creating an inconsistent patchwork of state and local labels that could disrupt...

01 May

Posted at 12:12h in Advocacy
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The 2023 Kansas legislature’s veto session began on Wednesday, April 26. Over proceeding three days, lawmakers took up a few bills for final action, passed an omnibus budget bill for the remainder of fiscal year ’23 and fiscal year ’24, and attempted to override about nineteen bills previously vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly. Around 10:30 p.m., on Friday, April 28 the 2023 edition of the Kansas Legislature formally adjourned sine die (final day). Barring any veto by the Governor Kelly of either the omnibus budget bill or the K-12 education budget...

28 Apr

Posted at 08:46h in Industry News
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Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association’s (KARA) scholarship committee reviewed more than 100 applications and awarded nearly $10,000 in financial aid to seven of the state’s high school graduating seniors and current college students for the 2023-24 academic year. “We are proud each year to assist local students in pursuing their academic aspirations,” KARA’s president and CEO Ron Seeber said. “Our board of directors, scholarship committee and overall membership congratulate and wish nothing but the best for this year’s recipients as we collectively look forward to their future contributions to our industry.” Each year,...

21 Apr

Posted at 12:25h in Advocacy
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This week marked the second of two interim weeks the Kansas Legislature took off between the end of the 2023 regular session and what is likely to be a short veto session beginning Wednesday, April 26. During the veto session, the legislature will take final action on a few remaining bills, pass an omnibus budget bill for the remainder of fiscal year ’23 and fiscal year ’24, and possibly attempt to override a few bills vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly. Please find below, action on some bills over the last...

20 Apr

Posted at 09:35h in Advocacy
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Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) commends Kansas Governor Laura Kelly's signature on Senate Substitute for HB 2302 as the association successfully worked throughout the 2023 Kansas legislative session to secure increased funding for the State Water Plan and agricultural water conservation projects. “As one of the main proponents behind the final form of this legislation, our membership, board of directors and water subcommittee are appreciative Governor Kelly and a bipartisan majority of our state's elected officials recognize the importance of dedicated funding to address water quantity and quality issues,” KARA President...

19 Apr

Posted at 15:01h in Advocacy, Industry News
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Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association’s (KARA) legislative efforts in 2023 have resulted in Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signing House Bill 2335, a bipartisan bill resulting in an annually dedicated $10 million from the state highway fund for maintenance and improvement of short line rail infrastructure. “We are incredibly pleased Governor Kelly and the overwhelming majority of our state legislature supports our members and their need for reliable, safe and enhanced rail transportation,” KARA President and CEO Ron Seeber said. “As it already has in its previous iterations, this critical legislation will bring...

19 Apr

Posted at 07:06h in Industry News, Regulatory
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The primary purpose of this Compliance Advisory is to explain what custom blending is to producers of feed-through livestock products used to control pests, such as flies. It has come to the attention to states’ departments of agriculture and EPA Region 7 that there is some confusion among producers and distributors of what constitutes “custom blending” and its associated regulations. Failure to follow the regulations regarding custom blending is a violation of FIFRA and may result in the issuance of penalties, orders such as Stop Sale, Use or Removals, and/or further...

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