Chris Clayton

The California Farm Bureau says a new farm worker law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday will force the state's farmers and ranchers to choose to give up free speech and private property rights in a trade over union...

A corn mill seemed to fit on the northern edge of Grand Forks, N.D., but the project led by a Chinese company, Fufeng Group, has now become one of the biggest political and national security debates over Chinese foreign...

Despite higher-priced inputs, interest rates and inflation, overall conditions for Midwest farmers right now are stronger than they were before the pandemic. Labor remains a driver of inflationary pressure, affecting several...

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Delaware on Friday ruled that privately held U.S. Sugar Corp. can move ahead with its acquisition of Imperial Sugar Co. from Louis Dreyfus Co. The Department of Justice sued last year to block...

Small high-tech businesses, farmers and rural residents could get some high-speed boosts as the Biden administration starts rolling out more broadband funding through different avenues. USDA on Thursday awarded $502 million in...

President Joe Biden committed to boosting U.S. food aid on Wednesday in his speech at the United Nations. Most of the aid, about $2 billion, will come through the U.S. Agency for International Development, with the rest coming from...

The cattlemen's groups have some issues with the Biden administration over fake meat grown in a petri dish after a senior administration official referenced "foods made with cultured animal cells. An Executive Order signed by...

NFU members met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and several members of USDA's leadership team as the group's lobbying fly-in became the largest outside gathering at USDA's main office...

Since at least 2009, leaders at Solutions from the Land have been coming back from these United Nations "COP" meetings talking about climate-smart agriculture. They were talking about U.S. agriculture taking a lead on climate...

The Supreme Court on Oct. 11 will hear arguments from the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation against the state of California and the Humane Society of the United States over Prop. 12. NPPC...

The deal, if culminated, offers a sigh of relief across the agricultural and biofuels supply chain. Agricultural groups this past week had increasingly called on Congress to prepare to step in to block a potential strike that would...

Farmers could see price impacts and struggles getting access to fertilizer because of a possible railroad strike. Some livestock producers could also face problems getting their usual feed deliveries. Fuel prices could rise because...

USDA on Wednesday detailed 70 grants totaling up to $2.8 billion in potential funding under the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities. The program was initially expected to cost $1 billion, but USDA increased funding after...

USDA on Wednesday announced 70 grants totaling up to $2.8 billion in potential funding under the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities. The program was initially expected to cost $1 billion, but USDA increased funding after...

EPA Administrator Michael Regan spoke to members of Growth Energy on Tuesday about the agency's pathway forward on the RFS and E15. Later in the afternoon, biofuel and agricultural leaders also took part in a White House...

NFU members met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and several members of USDA's leadership team as the group's lobbying fly-in became the largest outside gathering at USDA's main office building since COVID-19 struck.

The debate over EPA potentially regulating livestock emissions led to a hearing on Sept. 7 over a bill that would permanently prevent EPA from taking such action. EPA has not proposed any regulations of greenhouse emissions from...

The Farm Service Agency paid out more than $31 billion to agricultural producers in 2020 and 2021 under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. A GAO report released Thursday showed the agency wasn't stringent enough in...

Scoular states the purchase will more than double its grain storage capacity in northwestern Kansas. The deal reduces some area competition, especially around Goodland, Kansas, where Scoular already owns two facilities.

USDA's Economic Research Service's latest update on farm income released Thursday shows farmers receiving higher cash receipts for a broad range of commodities in 2022, but also paying more for nearly every major production...

The news that Walmart is investing in a midsized Nebraska packing plant reflects how regional packers will operate separately from the Big Four. We will likely see more of this kind of relationship between independent packers and...

The ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee committed to getting a farm bill done in 2023 if he takes over as chairman of the committee, and he criticized a GOP budget plan that calls for cutting farm programs.

Following a report Monday that USDA's weekly export sales data would not be available until further notice, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said USDA made a mistake and is working to fix the data. He did not know if the usual...

The disparity between disaster aid for livestock versus crop production was highlighted by FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux when he spoke Aug. 23 to a group of Midwest agribusiness people and farmers at an event in Detroit...

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, both Democrats, had released a report Thursday that the electric power and navigation benefits provided by the four dams would have to be replaced or mitigated before the...

EPA announced Friday the agency will move ahead with plans to declare at least two widely used PFAS chemicals as hazardous materials. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has called PFAS contamination on farms "a crisis," but USDA's press...

USDA isn't ready to share details on how it will use a pot of $3.1 billion to help distressed loan borrowers. The department also is not ready to spell out the rules of how $2.2 billion to pay for discrimination claims will be handled.

Policy talks marked the inaugural meeting of the Midwest Council on Agriculture, a group including more than 90 members representing farm and agribusiness groups in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and...

The $739 billion overall Inflation Reduction Act includes $369 billion for various programs tied to renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gases throughout the economy. The $19.5 billion for USDA conservation programs will...

Farmers on Thursday talked to U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about high input prices, especially for imported fertilizer. They also are worried about posturing in Mexico over biotechnology...

The funding for climate-smart agricultural investments in USDA's conservation programs won't require USDA to go through a rule-making process because the programs are already in place, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. The...

Responding to drought and years of lower water flows on the Colorado River, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Tuesday announced it would withhold about 21% of Arizona's annual water allocation out of the river for 2023. While...

NRCS will target funding, increase its program flexibilities and launch a new outreach campaign to promote nutrient management's economic benefits, along with expanding partnerships to develop nutrient management plans. This is part...

The National Farmers Union and National Council for Farmer Cooperatives were among the groups touting the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act for the investments in agriculture, biofuels and rural renewable energy projects.

The House voted along party lines Friday to send the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to President Joe Biden who has championed the legislation as key to his domestic agenda. The bill spends $369 billion for climate initiatives, including...

Lawsuits filed this week in the U.S. District Court for Delaware, allege violations of patent rights using the Enlist Weed Control System that allows farmers to use multiple types of herbicides against weeds.

A trade delegation from Vietnam was in Nebraska this week, but they weren't looking to buy more beef. Instead, they were looking for manufacturers that might be interested in building in Vietnam, tapping the country's free-trade...

I'm clarifying a mistake in my reporting on the Inflation Reduction Act when it comes to debt relief for certain farmers. When I detailed some of the debt-relief provisions in the bill, I didn't realize I was looking at text that had...

The biggest chunk of spending in the Inflation Reduction Act would address climate change in different ways, including programs for climate-smart agriculture and rural renewable energy. That includes about $20 billion for USDA...

Members of Congress have introduced a bill to extend the USDA Emergeny Relief Program (ERP) to cover 2022 disasters. The program right now was authorized to cover losses in 2020 and 2022.

The $739 billion bill focuses on spurring renewable energy and reducing emissions, but also allows Medicare to negotiate drug rates and it increases eligibility for the Affordable Care Act. The bill...

USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service released its survey on farmland values Friday. The report looks at all farm real estate, which averaged $3,800 per acre nationally, up 12.4%. The report also breaks out cropland...

The White House has ramped up its messaging over the Inflation Reduction Act. Republicans in the Senate counter with arguments against a "tax and spend" bill that will not translate into lowering inflation. Some in agriculture see...

After taking measurements last week, the dead zone was measured at about 3,275 square miles, one of the smaller areas mapped since they began tracking the size of the hypoxia area. Still, that translates into more than 2 million...

Kansas Soil Health Alliance held its first official crop tour this week, but several members of the group are also part of No-Till on the Plains. The alliance stresses some key soil health principles, such as limited disturbance of the...

Ukrainian export ships are preparing to move into the Black Sea, but skepticism continues for some, especially after Russia fired missiles following a U.N.-brokered deal allowing the grain shipments. At least one major insurance...

The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee introduced a bill Friday that would increase the premium subsidy for cattle producers who market 100 or fewer cattle per year, making it easier for them to buy into the Livestock...

As Western states are being forced to cut water use out of the Colorado River basin, residents in California and other states have been writing letters to the editor and opinion columns suggesting the feasibility of diverting...

In a deal struck Wednesday among Democratic senators, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 would include incentives to spark more climate-smart farming practices, as well as drive more solar and wind development in rural America.

American Farmland Trust on Tuesday released the group's recommendations for the next farm bill, focusing on expanding access to conservation programs as well as programs that preserve farm ground from development through...

The Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program will pay producers $54 per head for hogs sold through a spot market sale from April 16, 2020, through Sept. 1, 2020. The payments will be limited to up to 10,000 head per producer. Payments to...

USDA recently hosted an educational webinar to provide new farmers with a few pro tips about taxes. A key pro tip: Even though tax season doesn't start for farmers until early next year, planning should begin now.

There may be no sacred cows when it comes to government spending, but a subcommittee hearing stressed that crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farmer safety net and should be protected from any cuts or reforms in the...

The president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau highlights the importance of agricultural labor needs in his state. Right now, though, North Carolina is aligned with the American Farm Bureau Federation, opposing a provision in the...

The International Trade Commission ruled Monday that urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer imports from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago do not harm the U.S. domestic fertilizer industry. That shuts down the prospect of import tariffs...

USDA announced Tuesday, July 12, that it is accepting more than 3.1 million acres through the CRP Grasslands program, the highest in the program history. All told, USDA should come out of fiscal year 2022 with 23.8 million acres...

Citing the need for agricultural labor, and the benefits of bringing in more foreign workers, a group of House Republicans held a press conference with farm groups last week. The need for ag-labor reform runs counter to the...

Citing the need for agricultural labor, and the benefits of bringing in more foreign workers, a group of House Republicans held a press conference with farm groups earlier this week. The need for ag-labor reform runs counter to...

North Dakota's two senators and the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee have called for a federal committee to examine whether a Chinese company's plans for a corn mill near the Grand Forks Air Force Base is...

With the war in Ukraine driving up food and energy prices, fertilizer has become a major point of contention as immediate food needs overwhelm long-term environmental policies such as reducing emissions.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality released a pair of reports supporting the need to breach or remove one to four dams along the Lower Snake River as a way to boost recovery of salmon and steelhead in the region...

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, held a farm-bill listening session in his home district in Fresno, California, on Thursday. Farmers talked about the prolonged impact of the drought and...

So far, reference prices have become a focal point in the growing number of field hearings and listening sessions that members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committee continue to hold. Another option would be to consider...

So far, reference prices have become a focal point in the growing number of field hearings and listening sessions that members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committee continue to hold. Another option would be to consider...

EPA on Wednesday published a proposed consent decree for a lawsuit filed last December by the Center for Food Safety and the Pesticide Action Network North America. The agreement states EPA will decide by Sept. 30 on whether...

The National Weather Service on Tuesday classified a storm that hit South Dakota, Iowa and southern Minnesota Tuesday evening as a derecho. South Dakota weather stations reported winds reached as high as 99 mph around Howard...