Ag Policy Blog

A USDA spokesman on Thursday stated the department estimates it will start fiscal year 2024 at the beginning of October with about 25.8 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program. If that holds, CRP acreage would be the highest since fiscal year 2013.

Unlike other parts of CRP that idle ground, Grasslands CRP is a program for working lands that maintains the ground for grazing and haying practices. It also allows for cost-share payments for fencing or water facilities as well. Colorado, Nebraska and Colorado make up the bulk...

Samantha Power, administrator for the USAID, on Tuesday was at the Port of Odesa in Ukraine. She announced $250 million more in aid to Ukraine's agricultural sector.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack swore in Xochitl Torres Small at a ceremony Monday in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Senate voted last week to confirm Torres Small in an 84-8 vote.

USDA allows emergency haying and grazing on CRP acres under certain drought conditions or disaster declarations following the primary nesting season. For Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska the primary nesting season ends Saturday, July 15. This will allow landowners to hay or grazing...

Groups of every stripe are ramping up their messaging, trying to put their stamp on the farm bill debate. More than a few groups are inundating the email servers with their press releases on changes they want to see to farm and food programs.

The USDA program, part of the Federal Strategy to Advance Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Monitoring for the Agriculture and Forest Sectors, will be released Wednesday as a draft for public comment.

The USDA program, part of the Federal Strategy to Advance Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Monitoring for the Agriculture and Forest Sectors, will be released Wednesday as a draft for public comment.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a letter to Democratic colleagues on Sunday, detailed some bills and policies the Senate could advance in July, including "common-sense farm policy." The National Corn Growers Association also launched its own campaign to get a farm...

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday as he attacked Florida's governor over ethanol policies and laid out his record in defending farmers in his term.

A couple of editorials criticizing biofuels over the past month spotlight the benefits these coastal writers see in electric vehicles. EVs may be cleaner and more economical for a middle-class suburbanite in San Francisco, New York or Miami. But it's arrogant to suggest there are...

USDA on Tuesday announced it will spend $500 million over the next five years to promote wildlife conservation on working lands. Part of that will tie the Conservation Reserve Program into USDA's Working Lands for Wildlife programs. The announcement essentially brings together...

The Mexican government on Saturday announced a 50% tariff on all white corn imports, a move that is estimated to impact about 1% of U.S. corn production but 20% of U.S. corn exports to Mexico.

Senators this week introduced bills that would deal with the treatment of crop insurance for wheat producers in drought-stricken areas. Another bill by senators also would beef up USDA's suite of livestock disaster programs.

The House Agriculture Committee is going to examine labor issues and how to reform the H-2A program through a bipartisan working group that the committee announced on Wednesday.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is key for triggering a lot of programs. The more severe the drought, the quicker eligibility kicks in for some of these programs. There are also rules about haying and grazing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres during nesting season.

Marshall's bill, called the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, preserves the right of states and local units of government to regulate agriculture within their jurisdiction, free from interference from other jurisdictions. The bill also blocks states from dictating...

USDA on Wednesday announced more scrutiny on meatpacker and retailer claims about how animals are raised, seeking more information that must be approved by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) before labels can be added to meat and poultry products.

Eleven governors called on Congress to support the "Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression Act," a bill reintroduced in the U.S. Senate last month following the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in May upholding California's Proposition 12.

USDA on Monday announced its enrollment for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign up. The Department also released details for $714 million in grants and loans for its ReConnect broadband program.