Chris Clayton

A trade delegation from Vietnam was in Nebraska this week, but they weren't looking to buy more beef. Instead, they were looking for manufacturers that might be interested in building in Vietnam, tapping the country's free-trade...

I'm clarifying a mistake in my reporting on the Inflation Reduction Act when it comes to debt relief for certain farmers. When I detailed some of the debt-relief provisions in the bill, I didn't realize I was looking at text that had...

The biggest chunk of spending in the Inflation Reduction Act would address climate change in different ways, including programs for climate-smart agriculture and rural renewable energy. That includes about $20 billion for USDA...

Members of Congress have introduced a bill to extend the USDA Emergeny Relief Program (ERP) to cover 2022 disasters. The program right now was authorized to cover losses in 2020 and 2022.

USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service released its survey on farmland values Friday. The report looks at all farm real estate, which averaged $3,800 per acre nationally, up 12.4%. The report also breaks out cropland...

The White House has ramped up its messaging over the Inflation Reduction Act. Republicans in the Senate counter with arguments against a "tax and spend" bill that will not translate into lowering inflation. Some in agriculture see...

After taking measurements last week, the dead zone was measured at about 3,275 square miles, one of the smaller areas mapped since they began tracking the size of the hypoxia area. Still, that translates into more than 2 million...

Kansas Soil Health Alliance held its first official crop tour this week, but several members of the group are also part of No-Till on the Plains. The alliance stresses some key soil health principles, such as limited disturbance of the...

Ukrainian export ships are preparing to move into the Black Sea, but skepticism continues for some, especially after Russia fired missiles following a U.N.-brokered deal allowing the grain shipments. At least one major insurance...

The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee introduced a bill Friday that would increase the premium subsidy for cattle producers who market 100 or fewer cattle per year, making it easier for them to buy into the Livestock...

As Western states are being forced to cut water use out of the Colorado River basin, residents in California and other states have been writing letters to the editor and opinion columns suggesting the feasibility of diverting...

In a deal struck Wednesday among Democratic senators, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 would include incentives to spark more climate-smart farming practices, as well as drive more solar and wind development in rural America.

American Farmland Trust on Tuesday released the group's recommendations for the next farm bill, focusing on expanding access to conservation programs as well as programs that preserve farm ground from development through...

The Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program will pay producers $54 per head for hogs sold through a spot market sale from April 16, 2020, through Sept. 1, 2020. The payments will be limited to up to 10,000 head per producer. Payments to...

USDA recently hosted an educational webinar to provide new farmers with a few pro tips about taxes. A key pro tip: Even though tax season doesn't start for farmers until early next year, planning should begin now.

There may be no sacred cows when it comes to government spending, but a subcommittee hearing stressed that crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farmer safety net and should be protected from any cuts or reforms in the...

The president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau highlights the importance of agricultural labor needs in his state. Right now, though, North Carolina is aligned with the American Farm Bureau Federation, opposing a provision in the...

The International Trade Commission ruled Monday that urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer imports from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago do not harm the U.S. domestic fertilizer industry. That shuts down the prospect of import tariffs...

USDA announced Tuesday, July 12, that it is accepting more than 3.1 million acres through the CRP Grasslands program, the highest in the program history. All told, USDA should come out of fiscal year 2022 with 23.8 million acres...

Citing the need for agricultural labor, and the benefits of bringing in more foreign workers, a group of House Republicans held a press conference with farm groups last week. The need for ag-labor reform runs counter to the...

Citing the need for agricultural labor, and the benefits of bringing in more foreign workers, a group of House Republicans held a press conference with farm groups earlier this week. The need for ag-labor reform runs counter to...

North Dakota's two senators and the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee have called for a federal committee to examine whether a Chinese company's plans for a corn mill near the Grand Forks Air Force Base is...

With the war in Ukraine driving up food and energy prices, fertilizer has become a major point of contention as immediate food needs overwhelm long-term environmental policies such as reducing emissions.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality released a pair of reports supporting the need to breach or remove one to four dams along the Lower Snake River as a way to boost recovery of salmon and steelhead in the region...

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, held a farm-bill listening session in his home district in Fresno, California, on Thursday. Farmers talked about the prolonged impact of the drought and...

So far, reference prices have become a focal point in the growing number of field hearings and listening sessions that members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committee continue to hold. Another option would be to consider...

So far, reference prices have become a focal point in the growing number of field hearings and listening sessions that members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committee continue to hold. Another option would be to consider...

EPA on Wednesday published a proposed consent decree for a lawsuit filed last December by the Center for Food Safety and the Pesticide Action Network North America. The agreement states EPA will decide by Sept. 30 on whether...

The National Weather Service on Tuesday classified a storm that hit South Dakota, Iowa and southern Minnesota Tuesday evening as a derecho. South Dakota weather stations reported winds reached as high as 99 mph around Howard...

The concerns over Chinese investment in U.S. agriculture and the proximity to an Air Force base with lots of military technology have all intersected at a corn mill project in North Dakota.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that an Obama-era rule to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants exceeded EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act. The court's "major questions" doctrine could lead to greater legal...

Indigo Ag announced the sale of 19,000 carbon credits generated by the practices of 175 farmers who have been working with Indigo to sequester carbon in their operations. Indigo now has more than 2,000 farmers participating in...

A federal judge for the U.S. Court of International Trade on Tuesday sounded sympathetic to arguments that the International Trade Commission (ITC) did not factor in all the reasons phosphorus imports increased when the ITC...

The FDA has concluded there are no safety issues with a biotech wheat variety. The decision is not a final approval for the crop to be grown in the U.S., but the conclusion of the FDA review is a step toward commercial enablement...

The Senate Agriculture Committee has moved a bill that would set up minimum levels of negotiated cash trade for cattle markets in different regions of the country. Agricultural groups are split on the bill due to the effects it will...

The interpreter and owner of a tour-guide business has been keeping tabs on Ukrainian farmers and documenting the impact of Russia's assault on Ukrainian agriculture while visiting rural areas in the U.S., trying to raise money for...

After a tough planting season delayed by a late snowstorm, crop acreage in North Dakota and surrounding states is starting to look better than anticipated last month when analysts were forecasting high amounts of...

The various challenges of labor in rural America, transportation and reliance on foreign countries for key inputs were repeated themes as executives from Cargill Protein, John Deere, Dairy Farmers of America, MFA Inc., and the...

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, if left standing, will force EPA to re-examine the registration of glyphosate under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) when it comes to whether there is link...

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed H.R. 7606, a package of separate provisions dubbed the "Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act." The bill will allow sales of E15 year-round and appoint a special investigator with subpoena...

While the House is preparing to vote on a package of provisions meant to deal with inflation on food, fuel and fertilizer, Republicans offered a counter bill seeking to roll back regulations under the Biden administration that the...

The House voted 369-42 on Monday evening to approve the Senate version of the bill, which gives the Federal Maritime Commission more teeth to oversee ocean shipping companies. President Joe Biden wants to sign the bill immediately...

The House will debate a bill that includes provisions for a special investigator to deal with meatpackers, as well as a provision to allow year-round E15. Other provisions include incentives for farmers to pay for technology related...

A proposal to build what would be the largest packing plant in the U.S. drew some support with plans from Farmers Union Industries to handle byproducts from the proposed beef packing plant in western South Dakota.

Gas prices have hit a new average record of $4.92 a gallon. That might prompt people to tout the idea that they drive an EV, but not if you are a U.S. senator at a time of record inflation.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, spoke with President Joe Biden about shipping problems and other supply chain issues on Wednesday. Duvall also lobbied for passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act...

President Joe Biden nominated a long-time USDA policy adviser to be the chief agricultural negotiator after the Biden administration's last nominee did not receive a confirmation hearing. The position has been unfilled since early 2021.

One of the biggest carbon pipeline projects in the country, Navigator has inked a deal with Poet, the world's largest ethanol producer, to connect up to 18 of Poet's ethanol plants to the pipeline. Navigator's proposed Heartland...

The Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry and Natural Resources held a hearing Tuesday looking at the challenges of persistent drought in western states and the impacts on farms and forests. Those...

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is starting to look more closely at carbon markets and the financial risks of climate change. The commission held an all-day event on June 2 looking at how carbon markets are functioning...

USDA is rolling out more than $2.1 billion in funding programs for food production, processing, distribution and selling to consumers. That includes hundreds of millions of dollars for meat processing, but also to expand organic...

An investment company out of Rapid City, South Dakota, has proposed to build a $1.1 billion packing plant that would rely solely on U.S. beef and process as many as 8,000 head a day. That would make the plant the single-largest beef...

Southern New Mexico farmers on the Rio Grande River will start to see water flow June 1 out of an upstream reservoir. Still, farmers who grow products such as the famous Hatch chiles or pecans that fill the region will likely only...

A group of lawmakers wants USDA to provide flexibility and revenue protection for producers who will likely be planting past their crop insurance final planting dates. USDA also on Thursday opened up some expiring CRP ground a...

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack released details on multiple announcements to open new loans for small packers, while also proposing new rules for major poultry processors that contract with farmers to raise chickens.

Citing that a U.S. Solicitor General's position undermines decades of science-based policy, 54 agricultural groups want President Joe Biden to withdraw a recent brief to the Supreme Court over Bayer AG's petition for the court to...

Biden formally kicked off talks on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework on Monday with leaders from 12 other countries. Agricultural groups have been looking for trade talks that reduce tariffs and increase market access, but...

Commodity prices are up, but farmers in the Texas Panhandle will struggle to produce a crop under current drought conditions. As irrigation declines, they are also finding ways to adapt to more dryland crop production.

Farmers of both commodity crops and specialty crops will receive a first tranche of disaster aid payments. To determine losses, USDA will use its existing crop insurance or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) data...