Vilsack said, “Odds favor a new farm bill by end of year” – October 9, 2024

Vilsack said, “Odds favor a new farm bill by end of year”

Time is running out for Congress to agree on the new farm bill, now a year overdue, but a “common sense, reasonable, practical” package is still possible, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday, declaring himself an optimist. “I think there’s better odds than not that we get it done,” he said at a White House conference.

Fewer students in the school lunch line

Over the decade ending in fiscal 2019, before the pandemic, student participation in the school lunch program fell by 7 percent, to an average of 29.6 million meals a day, said a USDA report on the program. In enrollment and cost, school lunch is the nation’s second-largest public nutrition program, behind SNAP, and operates in around 100,000 schools.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

Revenue-based disaster aid: To assure fairness to small and diversified farmers, hurricane aid programs should give producers the option of submitting tax records to show revenue losses due to disasters, said small-farm advocates. (National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition)

Aid to urban agriculture: The USDA awarded $9 million to local organizations to provide education and technical assistance to urban farmers in 10 cities from South Carolina to Nevada. (Farm Service Agency)

Ban paraquat, say lawmakers: Four dozen U.S. representatives signed a letter to the EPA, asking it to ban paraquat, one of the most widely used weed killers in agriculture, on grounds it poses health risks. (Casar)

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