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
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
As lame duck session opens, farm bill isn’t ready for a vote A month ago, the lead negotiators on the farm bill linked arms in a show of unity and said they wanted to have the $87-billion-a-year legislation ready for a vote when Congress convened for its post-election session. The… Continue reading
(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
USDA will wait for Congress to decide SNAP work rules Congress should have the first, and last, word on stricter work requirements for able-bodied SNAP recipients, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday. The USDA is working on the issue as a regulatory matter, but Perdue told reporters that he… Continue reading
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
(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
(AP) – Backed by President Trump, House Republicans pushed for stricter SNAP work requirements in the 2018 farm bill despite strong opposition from House Democrats and senators of both parties. The midterm elections on Tuesday effectively terminated the “welfare reform in the farm bill” proposal, although it has not been… Continue reading
In the end, election night turned into a gentle blue wave, showing the nation as divided as ever. (AP) – As expected, suburban voters pushed back against President Trump, giving control of the House back to the Democrats, while voters in rural areas doubled down on their support of the… Continue reading
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
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