Ag Policy Blog

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.

Historically, farmers on heirs' property have bene unable to access USDA program because they cannot get a farm number without proof of ownership or control of the land. Congress in 2018 added language to the farm bill for USDA to find ways to resolve some of the issues...

As drought pressures increase, 44 members of Congress wrote USDA on Tuesday seeking more relief for farmers and ranchers affected by drought. Some lawmakers also introduced a bill that would open up Conservation Reserve Program acres to haying earlier in the year under...

In an effort to help address drought conditions, RMA is authorizing crop insurance companies to extend deadlines for premiums, administrative fees and interest for up to 60 days, or the termination date on the policy, whichever comes first.

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., wrote Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack challenging the rental rate increases that USDA is offering on Conservation Reserve Program contracts. Boozman said the contracts are legally questionable.

Administration medical experts continue to stress that people who have been vaccinated are protected from the rapidly spreading Delta variant of COVID-19, but people who are unvaccinated have a much greater risk of contracting the Delta variant and ending up hospitalized.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will take up a hearing on Wednesday to discuss immigrant farm workers. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley has some ideas to improve the H-2A guest-worker program but the senator stressed he is opposed to legalizing farm workers now in the country...

A push in the Senate to include legalization status for essential workers would include farm workers as well. That provision could be added to a budget reconciliation bill proposed by Senate Democrats. A parliamentarian would have to rule on whether the language can be voted on...

My reporting this week only scratched the surface when it comes to looking at what producers are facing in extreme or exceptional drought conditions, but we have 15 states now with at least some part of the state in D-3 extreme drought conditions, and at least nine states...

A pair of congressmen got language added to the appropriations bill for Homeland Security that would allow H-2A temporary guest workers to be accessed year-round for Fiscal Year 2022, opening the program to producers in all sectors of agriculture, including livestock...

Too often, meat is imported into the U.S., blended with meat from U.S. cattle or other livestock, then able to be labeled as "Product of USA" because it was processed at some level in the country. A review of the labeling protocol will ensure consumers are not misled.

The president's push against corporate consolidation comes as Canadian National has been waging a public-relations campaign to get approval from the federal Surface Transportation Board to set up a voting trust that would effectively acquire KCS while the Surface...

President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order on competition in the next few days. The White House press secretary on Tuesday told reporters during her daily press briefing some of the expected moves to come out of the executive order directly related to USDA...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking to DTN on Wednesday, said the litigation involving white farmers who sued USDA over the program will now have to move through the U.S. District court, then almost certainly will go to federal appeals courts, and perhaps all of the way...

The Washington Post on Tuesday reported former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue closed a real-estate deal in South Carolina with Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), paying a fraction of the price for an older grain elevator than what ADM had paid for the property.