USDA to implement up to $4 billion in pandemic aid through mid-August
Biofuel producers, dairy farmers and meat processors will receive a major portion of up to $4 billion in coronavirus aid that will be implemented over the next 60 days, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday. He also said the USDA will take “a pretty unique approach,” which could include a revolving loan program, to help small meat packers go into business or expand.
Transatlantic truce on aircraft benefits U.S. farm exports
President Biden announced a breakthrough in the long-running U.S.-EU dispute over airliner subsidies on Tuesday: Suspension of retaliatory tariffs on each other’s products for five years beginning in July. The overall $4 billion in EU tariffs included duties on $1.4 billion of U.S. ag exports from frozen seafood to cotton, wheat, tobacco and alcohol.
Today’s Quick Hits
Double WIC benefits: As part of a revision of public nutrition programs, the USDA should double the value of food packages in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, now around $38 per person per month, said an advocacy group. (National WIC Association)
More for working lands: Congress should triple or quintuple funding for USDA land stewardship programs, to nearly $20 billion a year, as the quickest way to increase conservation adoption by farmers and ranchers; every USDA agency should also make climate-smart agricultural practices a core goal, said the Climate, Food and Ag Dialogue. (AGree)
California funds $100 million for marijuana: State legislators approved $100 million to bolster California’s legal marijuana industry, but the industry says the aid may be insufficient as it competes with illicit growers. (Los Angeles Times)
Rural job grants: The new Rural Innovation Stronger Economy program will provide grants of up to $2 million apiece to consortiums of local governments, investors, industry and educational institutions to help rural communities create well-paying jobs and new business opportunities in high-growth fields. (USDA)
CLEAR30 signup nationwide: Landowners with expiring 10- or 15-year Conservation Reserve contacts have the option through Aug. 6 to switch to a 30-year contract with the Clean Lakes, Estuaries and Rivers initiative, also called CLEAR30, which is now available nationwide. (USDA)
Haaland backs restoration: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland advised President Biden to restore three national monuments – Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean – to their original size, reversing a decision by President Trump to shrink them. (New York Times)
