Ag Policy Blog

The North American Meat Institute and the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America each issued news releases offering a separate but equal debate about the state of complaints over cattle prices and what consumers pay. NAMI was responding to Ag...

The House Agriculture Committee late Friday debated about $66 billion in spending the committee plans to add to the budget reconciliation package that the full House will eventually vote on. The nine-hour meeting on-line included extensive debate about the tax provisions that...

There's a lot to absorb in the debate about tax plans being floated in Congress. Here are some key details in the debate about tax proposals and how farmers could be impacted.

The secretary spoke to the White House press corps about some of the actions USDA is doing to invest funds into smaller packing plants and address antitrust enforcement in the packing industry. He also talked about the need for legislation to make cattle markets more...

USDA has changed some of the provisions of the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-raised Fish Program, (ELAP) to help producers who have livestock that normally graze, but producers have instead been hauling hay or other feed from outside their...

The president of the American Farm Bureau wrote a letter Tuesday to congressional leaders raising concerns about the taxes and spending plans in Congress. Separately, USDA on Tuesday also announced grants available for food and farm workers who worked through the pandemic...

PACE will apply to farmers who split-apply nitrogen during the growing season rather than providing all of the nitrogen in a single treatment. PACE will provide payments for the projected yield lost when producers are unable to apply the in-season nitrogen application.

A report by the Center for American Progress repeats the White House position that President Joe Biden's tax plan would not impact the vast majority of farmers. The report highlights that heirs for family businesses and farms would not pay capital gains taxes when heirs...

USDA received an array of comments from groups and individuals on ways to invest as much as $500 million to increase competition and resiliency in the supply chain for meat processors.

The Agriculture Department on Tuesday issued a guidance document on how the department will enforce the final rule on "undue and unreasonable preferences and advantages" under the Packers and Stockyards Act. USDA also highlighted funds being used to boost surveillance for...

USDA on Monday stated the department has accepted 2.8 million acres in offers in 2021 for CRP contracts. With Continuous Signup still open, and new acres from the CRP Grasslands Signup that closed last week, USDA expects to enroll more acres into all of CRP than the 3 million...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called members back after the Senate passed the physical infrastructure bill and the budget resolution. Although some moderates and some progressives have raised questions about whether they will vote for the budget resolution, Pelosi is...

The export situation with containers was a topic at the cattlemen's convention last week. DTN spoke with a director from the U.S. Meat Export Federation about the challenges.

The move to increase SNAP benefits will boost food aid about $36 a month per person in the program. About 42 million people receive SNAP benefits.

The disaster bill introduced by a pair of senators would address some coverage issues with USDA forage and livestock programs.

The senators in their letter Monday pointed out an aid bill that passed last year directs USDA to make payment to contract growers of livestock and poultry to cover revenue losses. Contract swine producers were not part of USDA's aid announcement on June 15, which included...

The National Pork Producers Council has been pushing back against implementation of Prop 12. As of now, Prop 12 would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. NPPC cites that the animal housing standards set in Prop 12 will lead to a shortage of pork products being sold in California. GOP...

A Senate appropriations bill that passed out of a subcommittee on Monday includes provisions that would provide $7 billion in disaster aid for 2020 and 2021 weather challenges.

During a nomination hearing on Thursday, members of the Senate Agriculture Committee had several questions about the Conservation Reserve Program and USDA's plan to boost acreage. Some senators raised concerns about incentive payments and taking land out production while...

A pair of nominees for key undersecretary posts at USDA had their confirmation hearings on Thursday before the Senate Agriculture Committee. Climate change and rural broadband were among the dominant topics.