American Family Farmer

Bill Tomson has been an agriculture reporter for 22 years. He graduated from Central Michigan University and started his career as a correspondent for Knight Ridder in Sao Paulo, Brazil, reporting on soybeans, corn and wheat production. Bill also covered the automobile and telecommunications sectors there. Since then, Bill has covered ag for Dow Jones, Politico and now Agri-Pulse in Washington DC. Bill currently focuses on trade issues for Agri-Pulse, where he recently broke the story on the details of the U.S.-China deal to resume beef trade. The U.S. dairy sector is fighting harder than ever on several fronts to halt the European Union’s global efforts to block cheese producers in other countries from using names like Roquefort, Asiago and Gorgonzola on the products they export. “We can’t afford to lose this race with the EU,” Vilsack said. “Mexico is our number-one market … for dairy products, so clearly what happens here will make a difference to the nearly 42,000 (U.S.) operations that are producing product.” The Centre County Farmland Trust (CCFT) is gearing up for a signature event that shines the spotlight on local farms, local farmers, and local food. “Our work depends on a community that values farmland,” said Sarah Walter, Executive Director of CCFT, “people protect what they care about, and they care about what they know – so this is our way of helping people to get to know the farmland in their back yard.”