Ag Policy Blog

Voters will go to the polls Tuesday voting on a wide range of issues from state to state, as well as candidate policy. Marijuana legalization is a theme with five states voting on a ballot measure. In southern Arizona, a county will vote on imposing groundwater regulations. The...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday that access to fertilizer for 2023 crops remains a concern. The low river levels on the Mississippi River are hindering the flow of fertilizer upstream. He expects USDa will make some announcements soon that will help domestic...

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., led a letter of ten GOP House members to Vilsack on the $2.8 billion that went to the climate-smart pilot projects along with the expectation that the funds will go up to $3.5 billion with later announcements.

At least two Cargill grain elevators on the Mississippi River have stopped taking corn and soybeans because the bins are full, and they can't send grain down the river fast enough. Meanwhile, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials on the Missouri River are reducing water releases...

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office on SUnday rejected a formal investigation request into Mexican fruit and vegetable exports to the U.S. that had come from Florida lawmakers who claimed Mexico is targeting Florida produce.

Well, they aren't paying out right now, but farmers can now enroll and change their acreage election for the 2023 Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC).

In a keynote speech at the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue, the head of U.S. global food and development aid highlighted the rising costs of humanitarian food aid. U.S. food aid costs have gone up 50% in just the past two years. Other countries need to step up their...

Changes were made to the Dairy Margin Coverage program last year by USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) to offer a new Supplemental DMC program. The feed cost formula was also adjusted to address retroactive, current and future feed costs, USDA stated. Those changes will...

Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada's agricultural minister, said agricultural production losses from extreme weather events is a bigger risk to food production in her country than the government's emission targets. The agricultural minister had expressed her frustration over...

In their farm-bill policy platform, RIPE and its board members want Congress to take a look at $18 billion that was part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for conservation programs and change the payment formula for programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives...

RMA states the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and Micro Farm are two comprehensive risk management options for farmers. RMA said the policies are important to specialty crop, organic, urban and direct-market producers. RMA is holding some workshops on the policies over...

RMA states the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and Micro Farm are two comprehensive risk management options for farmers. RMA said the policies are important to specialty crop, organic, urban and direct-market producers. RMA is holding some workshops on the policies over...

DTN Political Correspondent Jerry Hagstrom highlights a letter from senators to USDA officials, as well as some policy goals coming from state agricultural directors.

More than 80 members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation on Thursday that would prevent the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission from passing a rule that could require farmers and ranchers to report emissions to the SEC.

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 elections.

The proposed rule released by USDA on Monday is called the "Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act." The notice defining and spelling out the rule is 180 pages long.

The Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports (CREAATE) Act of 2022 introduced by four senators would increase MAP mandatory funding to $400 million annually and would increase FMD mandatory funding annually to $69 million. Multiple commodity...

Members of the Seante Agriculture Committee on Thursday supported swift approval for three nominees to USDA and the Farm Credit Administration board. Senators also noted it has taken a long time to fill some of the positions in the Biden administration.

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 USDA.

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 President Biden requires USDA to issue a report on...