Rural broadband projects get $714 million in USDA grants and loans
The White House announced $714 million in USDA grants and loans to expand access to high-speed internet service in 19 states from South Carolina to California on Monday. With the new round of funding, the USDA has put $2.45 billion into rural broadband through its ReConnect program in the past 18 months.
USDA accepts more than 1 million acres for Conservation Reserve
The USDA will accept more than 1 million acres of the land that was offered for entry into the land-idling Conservation Reserve during the recent signup for large tracts, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. Contracts expire on 2 million acres of land in the reserve this fall and enrollment of 23 million acres is well below the ceiling of 27 million acres.
End of OTC sale of medically important antibiotics for use in livestock
Beginning this week, livestock owners will need a prescription from a veterinarian before they can buy medically important antibiotics for use on their animals, announced the Food and Drug Administration on Monday. The new restriction is part of a multiyear campaign to preserve the efficacy of the antimicrobials in treating disease in humans.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Lawmakers back BLM on conservation: Wading into controversy, four dozen senators and representatives urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to build on a “long-overdue draft rule” by the Bureau of Land Management that would clarify conservation as a legitimate use of public land. (Huffman)
‘Protect climate change funding’: Some 55 food, farm and conservation groups asked House appropriators to oppose any proposals in the annual USDA spending bill to reduce funding for agricultural research into climate change. (National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition)
Canada joins GMO corn fight: Canada “shares the concerns of the United States” that Mexico’s ban on imports of GMO corn for making tortillas is not based on science and would disrupt North American trade, said the nation’s agriculture and trade ministers. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
