Farm Bill & Lame Duck – November 15, 2018

McConnell: Farm Bill must be completed

McConnell: Farm bill absolutely must be completed in lame duck session Congress is nearly a quarter of the way through its post-election session with no apparent compromise on SNAP work rules or other disputes in the farm bill. Nonetheless, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday that the farm… Continue reading

Mississippi Senate, China Overfishing – November 14, 2018

Mississipi Senate Race

Trump acolyte presses ahead in Mississippi Senate race Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a member of President Trump’s agriculture advisory committee in 2016, is following the president’s no-apology campaign style in the Senate runoff election against former U.S. agriculture secretary Mike Espy, a Democrat. Hyde-Smith is the front-runner in strongly Republican Mississippi…. Continue reading

New Ag Community Legislation

Ag Community Legislation

(AP) Last week, seven corporate agriculture interest groups sued the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to halt the extension of a public comment period on a proposed mega-dairy expansion in Winona County, Minnesota. The suit highlights broader efforts by agribusiness to silence opposition from rural residents who speak out against large concentrated… Continue reading

Farm Bill Outlook, Rural Population – November 8, 2018

Rural Population

Farm bill outlook: Lame duck passage or bust Farm bill negotiators said they expect to pass the $87-billion-a-year legislation in the lame duck session of Congress that opens on Tuesday. “I think we are relatively close,” said Collin Peterson, ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. “We could have that… Continue reading

California Goes Cage-Free

California Goes Cage Free

(AP) – Just like a decade ago, Californians approved welfare standards for farm animals in a landslide on Tuesday. Precedent-setting “cage-free” Proposition 12 will require farmers to give sows, veal calves, and egg-laying chickens more room to move about and also require that pork, veal, and eggs produced outside of… Continue reading

Democrats Take House – November 7, 2018

Democrats Take the House

House elections stamp expiration date on GOP ‘welfare reform in the farm bill’ The midterm elections on Tuesday, giving Democrats control of the House beginning in January, effectively ended a Republican push for stricter SNAP work requirements in the 2018 farm bill. The elections could also be the jolt that… Continue reading