At listening session, calls for greater farm bill funding and a stronger SNAP Congress needs to modernize the crop insurance program and update farm subsidies to reflect higher input costs and volatile commodity markets when it writes the new farm bill, said the leader of the largest U.S. farm group… Continue reading
Farm bill should expand climate-smart initiative The Biden administration has committed $3.1 billion to 141 pilot projects to develop climate-smart commodities and the new farm bill should fund additional projects, said the AGree farm policy initiative on Wednesday. In a set of farm bill priorities, AGree also said the USDA… Continue reading
Cost of fighting bird flu outbreaks tops $670 million The Agriculture Department promotes comprehensive biosecurity measures on the farm as the “best and prudent approach” to combat bird flu outbreaks that have killed 58.6 million birds in domestic flocks in 13 months. The viral disease drove up egg prices during… Continue reading
Farm finances are strong, but rise in land values slows High commodity prices supported “profit opportunities for many producers across the farm sector” ahead of the spring planting season, although there were concerns about operating expenses, higher interest rates and drought, said the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. USDA climate… Continue reading
USDA spending falls as White House envisions transformational farm bill Agriculture Department spending would fall 14 percent in the new fiscal year, due almost entirely to reduced SNAP benefits with the end of the pandemic, said the White House on Thursday. It proposed relatively modest initiatives at the USDA for… Continue reading
Global corn trade tightens as Argentine, U.S. exports dip Drought in Argentina and lackluster sales in the United States, two of the world’s major suppliers, will reduce global corn exports to their lowest volume in three years, said USDA analysts on Wednesday. Shipments from another leading source, Ukraine, were in… Continue reading
More farmers expect slowdown in ag exports Operators of large farms are losing faith in exports as an ever-growing market for U.S. crops and livestock, said a Purdue poll released on Tuesday. Only one third of farmers surveyed for the monthly Ag Economy Barometer said they expected agricultural exports to… Continue reading
Farm bill is chance to develop a new model for prosperity Congress should build into the new farm bill pathways that will allow small and midsized producers to make a living from the land rather than having to rely on off-farm income, as is common now, said Agriculture Secretary Tom… Continue reading
Farm-state Republicans consider raiding climate-change cookie jar Without exception, Senate and House Republicans voted last summer against the climate, health and tax bill that earmarked $20 billion for USDA’s voluntary land stewardship programs, with a priority on practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase climate resiliency. Now, they are… Continue reading
$50 million Mississippi River restoration project The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a new Mississippi River restoration project, starting with a 39-mile stretch near Memphis, Tennessee, that could help save threatened and endangered aquatic animals. The agency still needs to secure $50 million in funding. EPA ‘forever chemicals’… Continue reading
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