Demand for food aid stays high in second year of pandemic
The pandemic sent millions of Americans to food banks for help last year and the crush continues this year, said a food bank leader at a House hearing on USDA food donation programs on Wednesday. Feeding America, the largest food bank network in the nation, asked for a 45 percent funding increase for The Emergency Food Assistance Program, which buys U.S.-grown food and gives it to food banks to alleviate hunger.
House advances cattle marketing reform bill
By large, bipartisan majorities, the House passed bills on Wednesday to introduce more transparency in cattle marketing and to keep in force a law that requires meatpackers to report purchase prices of livestock. The bills now go to the Senate for action.
Today’s Quick Hits
Supplemental dairy aid: The USDA will make $580 million in retroactive payments through the Dairy Margin Coverage subsidy to small and midsized farms that expanded production during the past two years and that enroll in the program by Feb. 18, 2022. (USDA)
Vote on ag nominees: The Senate Agriculture Committee is set to vote Thursday on the nominations of Chavonda Jacobs-Young to be USDA undersecretary for research and Margo Schlanger to be USDA assistant secretary for civil rights. (Senate Agriculture)
Fertilizer price probe: A farm advocacy group called on the Justice Department on Wednesday to investigate whether recent increases in fertilizer prices violate antitrust laws. (Family Farm Action Alliance)
Solar grows at airports: Twenty percent of U.S. public airports have built solar farms in the past decade, generating power — and cash — by installing collectors on idle land and providing an in-town alternative to rural solar sites. (New York Times)
Vilsack in Ohio: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to discuss sustainable aviation fuel and USDA efforts to expand meat processing capacity during a visit to Ohio on Thursday. (FERN’s Ag Insider)
