Ag Policy Blog

When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue testified before the House Agriculture Committee Wednesday, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and ranking member Michael Conaway R-Texas, approached him differently.

While President Donald Trump is excited enough about talks with China that he peeled back the threat of higher tariffs going into effect March 1, the American Soybean Association simply sees prolonged tariffs on U.S. soybean exports to China.

Coming off the federal government shutdown that consumed the month of January, USDA's Farm Service Agency isn't ready to detail dates for possible changes in programs such as Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, or the new Dairy Margin Coverage.

In yet another sign of the deteriorating farm economy, a Wells Fargo economist said here last week that banks will not make loans to all financially troubled farmers who have crop insurance this year, even though they will require them to buy it.

For a group of American farmers, their spouses and myself, Mato Grosso was the centerpiece of two-week whirlwind tour of Brazil as we heard about the double-crop production, heard about sugar cane ethanol and learned about the Cerrado reserves that basically keep further...

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., sets priorities including reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and improving pesticides registration.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association raises questions about fake meat in newly launched campaign.

Millions of dollars in funds awarded by USDA are designed to help open new agriculture export markets.

A study released Wednesday by the U.S. Dairy Export Council projects new trade agreements between Japan and other countries will put U.S. dairy exports at a competitive disadvantage, resulting in lost sales of $5.4 billion over 21 years.

USDA has posted a long list of program date changes affected by the partial government shutdown. Most program changes moved the application or notice date to Feb. 14, but a few programs were also pushed to Feb. 28.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Monday that, while he is worried farm bill benefits will prove inadequate, the bill "is what it is." Meanwhile, the National Farmers Union board called for a bigger package of assistance.

Farm, livestock and business groups support a bill led by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to eliminate the estate tax.

As first reported by Politico, farmers who make more than $900,000 in adjusted gross income could become eligible for the Market Facilitation Program under language in the supplemental appropriations bill passed last week by the House of Representatives.

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Michael Conaway, R-Texas, announced the names of the Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee for the 116th Congress.

USDA will reopen its Farm Service Agency offices on Thursday on a full-time basis and offer a broader list of services. This is a good thing for FSA's farmer and rancher customers. They'll be able to get their loan questions addressed, get necessary paperwork done for other...

Under the Agricultural Worker Program Act, farmworkers who have worked in agriculture for at least 100 days in the past two years may earn "blue card" status that allows them to continue to legally work in the Unites States.

After Iowa Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, was stripped of his committee assignments earlier this week, Iowa agriculture groups lamented in a Des Moines Register article that Iowa had maintained a member of the House Agriculture Committee going back 120 years.

USDA will reopen about half of the country's Farm Service Agency offices for three days starting Thursday to help farmers with existing farm loans and provide tax documents to borrowers such as 1099 forms.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told reporters Sunday at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting that his committee will schedule hearings on trade and climate change in the near future.

On a call with reporters Thursday morning, Sen. Ernst, R-Iowa, made it clear she expects EPA to get an E15 rule finished by the summer driving season.