Ag Policy Blog

Rather than the Senate aggies, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, announced a hearing next week looking at agriculture and climate change. Whitehouse is known for giving nearly 300 floor speeches in the Senate chamber on climate...

The letter to Tai noted she had told Congress two months ago that if the Biden administration's concerns over Mexico' policies were not resolved through technical consultations then the USTR would "consider all options to fix this problem, including by taking additional steps...

The debt-limit bill, as released Sunday by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., would cover U.S. obligations through Jan. 2, 2025. The bill is titled the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Agricultural groups and Republican lawmakers praised the Supreme Court decision for setting a new standard for regulating bodies of water. Democrats and environmental groups see the ruling as setting back the country's clean water provisions. There was even disagreement over...

If you haven't filled out your ag census form, it is due May 31. USDA also wants comments from producers and will be holding public listening sessions on possible changes to prevented-planting crop insurance coverage.

In a subcommittee hearing Tuesdy, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee raised doubts over whether USDA can manage all of the conservation spending ifrom the Inflation Reduction Act. He also remains opposed to rules with the funding that tie it to reducing...

The markup for USDA's fiscal-year 2024 funding was unusual in that the subcommittee usually reaches agreement in advance of the markup, but this year the Republicans made big cuts to farm and nutrition programs to which the Democrats objected vigorously.

Using $10.7 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, USDA on Tuesday will lay out two new loan and grant programs for rural electric cooperatives and other rural power providers. The projects will look to help rural areas convert more energy to low-carbon...

In a hearing Wednesday before a House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, leaders from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), National Turkey Federation (NTF) and North American Meat Institute (NAMI) each lamented the...

Using $10.7 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, USDA on Tuesday will lay out two new loan and grant programs for rural electric cooperatives and other rural power providers. The projects will look to help rural areas convert more energy to low-carbon...

When former U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, was in Congress he tried multiple times to get language in what became the 2014 and 2018 farm bills that would have prevented states from blocking agricultural products from outside their state if those products had been approved by...

The four principal leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees came out of a meeting Thursday with President Joe Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issuing identical 86-word statements declaring they are going to push ahead for a "2023 farm bill."

Politico reported earlier Wednesday that President Biden had invited the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture committees to come to the White House to discuss the farm bill.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack launched the AIM for Climate initiative at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021. He is co-hosting a summit this week with the minister of climate change and environment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In...

The Republican senators stated in their three-paragraph letter to Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that they would not vote for cloture on any bill that raises the debt ceiling "without substantive spending and budget reforms." They did not detail any specific cuts.

The U.S. Senate voted 50-48 to support a resolution overturning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule that lists the lesser prairie chicken as a "threatened" species in parts of Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma while also designating the bird as "endangered" in parts of...

The Biden administration "dipped into billions from the CCC" for programs "that were not within the scope of eligibility, I don't believe," said Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., referring to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's $3.1 billion Climate-Smart Commodities Initiative. Still...

USDA is providing loan payment relief as part of $3.1 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to help distressed farm-loan borrowers. Since the IRA passed last fall, USDA stated the department has provided roughly $1.1 billion in aid to more than 20,000 distressed farm-loan...

The White House on Tuesday officially declared President Joe Biden would veto the House debt limit bill if it reaches his desk. The House bill rolls back tax credits for a long list of renewable energy programs from the Inflation Reduction Act, including multiple tax credits for...

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Wednesday introduced the Limit, Save and Grow Act, with a long list of GOP demands to raise the national debt limit by $1.5 trillion. Among the provisions, the bill would repeal several green-energy tax credits that were extended or...