Ag Policy Blog

The Senate Agriculture Committee has a subcommittee hearing on Tuesday morning looking at renewable energy opportunities in rural America. A separate hearing by the full committee on Wednesday will examine some of the challenges facing livestock producers right now.

West Coast port problems are limiting the potential for exports of pork and other products, according to testimony Tuesday at a House Transportation Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee hearing.

Trying to curb a decline in acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA is boosting rental rates and various land-improvement incentives. The deadline approaches to apply for the CRP general sign-up.

Farmers and livestock producers who have been waiting for aid payments for Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) and the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP-Plus) should see payments over the next several week as USDA announced more than $1 billion in aid released...

With the American Jobs Plan calling for $17 billion for ports and inland waterways, Farmers for Free Trade and agricultural groups called on lawmakers to boost that funding closer to the $42 billion identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

ERS looked at a hypothetical situation where all global tariffs were removed from agricultural trade. The report also provides a good summary about tariffs in certain countries such as South Korea and India.

The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee has added his voice to those raising concerns about limiting stepped-up basis for farm assets. Several farm groups have complained about the proposal, which President Joe Biden has pitched to help pay for his infrastructure...

Federal lawmakers are asking for the U.S. Department of Justice and the USDA to appeal a recent court decision that vacated a rule allowing for faster line speeds at pork-processing plants.

In a nomination hearing Thursday, multiple senators said the Senate Agriculture Committee will be holding a separate hearing at some point on the cattle markets. Senators want to understand where the Department of Justice stands on its investigation into packers, and what USDA...

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has led a letter to congressional leaders seeking a major funding boost for an array of USDA programs over the next decade. USDA also has launched an initiative to quantify the climate benefits of CRP contracts.

A coalition, the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, with 115 of its member groups signed onto a letter this week to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways & Means Committee. The coalition is continuing to raise concerns over...

A pair of senators are writing a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to enforce antitrust laws and restore fairness to cattle markets. R-CALF USA is encouraging other lawmakers to join the letter, looking to get 200 members of the House and Senate on board.

The bankers wrote Vilsack last month that USDA should recognize lenders' costs of funding and servicing loans and ensure lenders are made whole by being compensated for lost income due to these loan payoffs. The New York Times first reported about the banker's actions.

The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee said Tuesday his committee is looking at creating a program to fund permanent disaster relief for producers rather than having to go through an annual appropriation for disaster relief.

The I-40 shutdown here adds just another element in the infrastructure debate happening right now in Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden was expected to meet again Thursday with Republican lawmakers on his roughly $2 trillion plan. Biden also will apparently talk to them about...

Agricultural groups are worried about President Joe Biden's proposal to eliminate stepped-up basis on inherited assets above a proposed $1 million exemption for an individual, or $2 million for married couple. While the White House has stated that protections would be created so a...

A study on agricultural production and air quality released Monday is the first major research report to link air-pollution deaths to specific food items. It will likely provide fresh fodder in the debate over the scale and health risks associated with large confinement operations...

After some of the complaints and questions over 30x30 before its release, the initiative drew comments of encouragement from some major agricultural groups.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the department will hold a virtual listening session on Thursday for beginning farmers and ranchers to learn how COVID-19 impacted their farming operations and to get their feedback on USDA assistance.

A bill in the Iowa Legislature has stalled that would require retailers to offer at least 15% ethanol blends at the pumps and 11% biodiesel blends. The bill has stalled, though, as lobbyists for convenience stores and others have pushed back against it.