Ag Policy Blog

The "Protecting Farmers from Drought Act would change RMA's "one-in-four" rule to "one-in-five" for Prevented Planting (PP) insurance in counties -- and contiguous counties -- experiencing three continuous years of D3 (extreme drought) in any area of the county at any...

The Iowa State Fair kicked off Thursday with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum making his presence known while former Vice President Mike Pence defended his decision to ratify the presidential election results in January 2021.

A new paper, "Agricultural Carbon Programs: From Program Chaos to Systems Change," looks at some of the dynamics going on in carbon markets without specifically calling out any single company in the markets. The report looks at the overall picture as carbon markets still...

Rep. Kat Cammack, a Republican from Florida, told members of the sugar industry at the groups' annual conference that the farm bill will likely be delayed until 2024. Cammack also said she expects a government shutdown.

Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., said during a farm-bill forum at Farmfest in Minnesota on Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 12 noted Congress has the authority to address interstate commerce issues but had not chosen to assert its authority over...

The Republican staff for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee cites that farmers in more states would lose farm program payments over the next decade if the next farm bill mandated that producers update their base acres. The analysis overall shows a cost savings to...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, trying to jumpstart his campaign against Trump, laid out some economic policies on Monday in New Hampshire, which includes taking tougher stands against China.

The funding bill for USDA's discretionary spending, along with the Food and Drug Administration, did not come up for a floor vote this week because of divisions within the Republican caucus. Congress is again way behind on passing spending bills, which sets up the federal...

Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee continue to introduce bills they hope will be part of the Senate's farm bill debate. On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced another effort to tighten payment limits with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

The two corporate giants on Wednesday announced a seven-year project to spend as much as $120 million to support farmers in the U.S. and Canada. They will help farmers with practices on more than 2 million acres and reduce emissions by about 4 million metric tons in the...

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure that was added to a Defense bill that would prevent the sale of agricultural land or agribusinesses to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. The bill also would place more scrutiny on any purchase of farmland by foreign countries...

The House Rules Committee will meet Wednesday afternoon to layout the debate rules for H.R. 4368, the funding bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. The bill was moved out of committee last month on a party-line vote as the...

Rather than offering some industry consensus on how to change the FMMO, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF, which represents dairy farmers and co-ops, and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), which represents dairy processors, have offered different...

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.