Senate votes to overturn Biden’s ‘waters of the United States’ rule – March 30, 2023

Senate votes to overturn Biden’s ‘waters of the United States’ rule

The Senate joined the House on Wednesday in voting to overturn the Biden administration’s “waters of the United States” regulation, which spells out the upstream reach of water pollution laws. The White House said earlier this month that President Biden would veto the Republican-sponsored resolution of disapproval if it reached his desk.

Farm income to soften as commodity prices weaken

After two record-setting years in a row, U.S. net farm income will decline sharply in the near term, pulled down by lower crop and livestock prices, though it will remain well above its 10-year average, said FAPRI on Wednesday. The University of Missouri think tank said food inflation would drop to 4.4 percent this year — less than half of last year’s rate — and run at 2 percent in following years.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

Tough spot for Mexico: By banning imports of genetically modified white corn, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico has put himself “in a political situation that is very hard for him to move out of,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told senators. (Senate Appropriations)

Alternative farm bill: The farm bill filed by 15-term Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon would cap subsidy payments to agribusinesses, ban factory farms from USDA conservation programs, create an Office of Food Waste at the USDA, expand SNAP, and include an animal-welfare title. (Blumenauer)

Shunning Russian grain: Two major grain companies, Cargill and Viterra, said they will halt direct purchases of grain grown in Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter. (Bloomberg)

Challenge to wildfire retardant: A lawsuit in Montana would stop the U.S. Forest Service from dropping millions of gallons of a liquid fire retardant on wildfires each year on the grounds the retardant pollutes waterways and violates federal clean water laws. (Los Angeles Times)

Top farm bill priorities: In a poll by Morning Consult, two-thirds of Americans said the top priorities in the farm bill should be public nutrition programs and risk management programs for farmers. (AFBF)

Bookmark the permalink.