Ag Policy Blog

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed legislation on Monday authorizing a $500 million canal meant to counter what Nebraska sees as attempts in Colorado to potentially hold back future water flows on the South Platte River.

The Senate and House Agriculture Committees will be delving into some hearings on livestock markets and the farm bill towards the end of April. That includes a Senate hearing on the cattle markets bill, and a possible House hearing with the CEOs of the four major packers.

President Joe Biden will travel to Menlo, Iowa, later this afternoon to make his announcement allowing year-round E15 sales to return during a visit to a 150-million-gallon POET ethanol plant. POET is the world's largest producer of ethanol products.

President Joe Biden will travel to Menlo, Iowa, later this afternoon to make his announcement allowing year-round E15 sales to return during a visit to a 150-million-gallon Poet ethanol plant. Poet is the world's largest producer of ethanol products.

President Joe Biden will travel to Des Moines, then to Menlo, Iowa, a small town about 45 minutes west of Des Moines with a POET Bioprocessing plant that has capacity for 150 million gallons of ethanol. Biofuel groups will watch closely to see what kind of announcements may come...

Members of Congress appeared open to pork producers' request for money to protect against the risk of African Swine Fever. Lawmakers were more divided about getting into a Pacific-region trade agreement, or allowing year-round foreign guestworkers.

The Biden administration still does not have a chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, and the Department of Agriculture doesn't have an undersecretary for foreign trade. Both positions require nominations from the president and Senate...

In the letter to NGFA, USDA also cites that a considerable proportion of currently enrolled CRP acres are in areas experiencing significant levels of drought. USDA added, Production those acres would be marginal at best, and there is no realistic way to convert all CRP acres to...

With the challenges in food security and stability globally, the U.S. could use some top people in the Biden administration focused on agricultural exports. A key trade nominee withdrew last month, and the White House has not submitted a name for a USDA undersecretary.

Under the bill, USDA would two years to set up mandatory minimum cash market trade for five to seven regions of the country. The bill also would require USDA to create a library of market contracts between packers and producers. Packers also would have to detail their...

Overall, the White House proposes a $5.8 trillion budget for fiscal year 2023 with USDA's total budget outlays at $261 billion, about the same cost as 2022. The budget contains several tax changes that failed to move in the U.S. Senate last year, including a proposal to raise the...

Key agribusiness groups and the American Farm Bureau Federation on Wednesday urged Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to allow holders of contracts under the Conservation Reserve Program to plant crops on those lands to increase supply during the Ukraine war.

There continues to be some repeated themes about climate change, conservation programs and crop insurance coming out of the House Agriculture Committee as Ranking Member Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., pushes back on tying climate change initiatives to USDA's main farm-bill...

In the magazine "The Atlantic," staff writer David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, wrote "The U.S. Subsidy That Empowers Putin." In Frum's essay he makes the case that "the ethanol program" has helped leverage Russian President Vladimir Putin's hand...

AFBF's called on the Biden Administration to relieve the pressure on energy prices through higher domestic production and greater use of biofuels. The ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee also called on USDA to offer landowners flexibility on Conservation Reserve...

An economist tossed out the idea on Twitter that USDA should open up Conservation Reserve Program acres to planting this year. Within a day, reporters were asking Farm Service Agency administrators if USDA is looking at that option and when the department would make a...

Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux addressed an array of topics during a speech Monday to members of the National Farmers Union in Denver and an interview with DTN on farm programs and office staffing.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., a farmer in the U.S. Senate, told members of the National Farmers Union on Sunday about a series of bills he is championing to tackle corporate consolidation. Tester said Senate leaders have promised to debate at least a pair of bills this spring...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack rolled out some grant opportunities at the USDA Ag Outlook Forum. The grants amounted to $215 million in total funding USDA is making available as part of a series of food supply chain programs.

A bill stalled out in the Iowa Legislature that would prevent carbon pipelines from using eminent domain for their projects. A push by Nebraska's governor to build a canal project is getting some questions from lawmakers in that state as well.