Bronaugh cleared for Senate vote to be deputy agriculture secretary After nearly three months alone at the USDA, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is on the verge of being joined by a Biden appointee with sub-cabinet rank. On a voice vote with no objections, the Senate Agriculture Committee cleared Jewel Bronaugh… Continue reading
Stepping ahead of Biden, progressives propose free school meals for all More than three dozen Democrats in the House and Senate proposed a dramatic expansion of U.S. spending on school meals to provide free meals for all students, not just low-income children. “What we’ve seen during this pandemic is that… Continue reading
National conservation goal: 30 percent of U.S. land and water The Biden administration announced a 10-year, voluntary and locally led drive to conserve 30 percent of U.S. land and coastal waters by 2030, an idea President Biden broached in January. “This is the first national conservation goal we have ever… Continue reading
‘Legitimate reason’ behind debt relief for minority farmers, says Vilsack The USDA will proceed with $4 billion in loan forgiveness for socially disadvantaged farmers despite lawsuits that want to add white farmers to the program, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The assistance is intended to address the cumulative… Continue reading
Farmers worried by possible new capital gains, estate tax liability Very few farm families pay estate taxes but almost all large-scale farmers are worried that changes in the tax code will increase their exposure to capital gains or estate taxes, said a Purdue University survey released on Tuesday. The poll… Continue reading
Before a USDA carbon bank, try some pilot projects, says climate alliance A few weeks ago, USDA climate adviser Robert Bonnie used a variant of “walk before you run” to describe the Biden administration goal of bipartisan support for climate mitigation in agriculture. On Monday, a sector-spanning coalition said the… Continue reading
Booker backs a food box program for fruits and vegetables Sen. Cory Booker, the new chairman of the Senate nutrition subcommittee, called for a permanent food box program to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to communities “in desperate need for healthy produce.” Booker also said $20 billion a year should… Continue reading
EPA is given 60 days to ban or modify rules for chlorpyrifos fter blasting the EPA for “13 years of interminable delay,” the federal appeals court in San Francisco on Thursday set a 60-day deadline for the agency to either ban agricultural use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos or set newer… Continue reading
Biden seeks full-scale summer food program for children Building on P-EBT benefits created in response to the coronavirus, President Biden proposed a vast expansion of the USDA’s summer food program on Wednesday that would be available to the 22 million children who eat school meals for free or at a… Continue reading
Trump-backed legal group sues for debt relief for white farmers With Texas agriculture commissioner Sid Miller as the plaintiff, a Trump-aligned legal group on Tuesday challenged the $4 billion debt-relief plan approved by Congress for Black and minority farmers, saying it was unconstitutional. “Americans of all races and ethnicities must… Continue reading
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