With cuts, USDA will ‘do more with less,’ say House Republicans – May 19, 2023

With cuts, USDA will ‘do more with less,’ say House Republicans

Split on party lines, a House subcommittee approved a USDA spending bill on Thursday that would rescind $6 billion earmarked for clean energy and farm loan forgiveness and end work on fair play rules in livestock marketing. The bill also would limit Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s access to a $30 billion reserve that is being used to pay for a climate-smart agriculture initiative.

Projects will test outreach strategies for WIC

While four out of every five eligible Americans are enrolled in SNAP, participation in the Women, Infants, and Children program is much lower — 50 percent, say USDA data. On Thursday, the government announced $16 million in funding for 36 projects to test ways to encourage participation in WIC.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

Farm sales go online: The pandemic made online auctions an option for handling farm sales, and now roughly 70 percent of auction revenue comes via the internet. (Harvest Public Media)

Kansas wheat outlook fades: Crop scouts estimated that farmers in Kansas, frequently the No. 1 wheat state, will harvest 178 million bushels of winter wheat this year, down 7 percent from the USDA estimate earlier this month and 27 percent less than in 2022. (Kansas Wheat)

North Dakotan eyes run: Second-term Gov. Doug Burgum, who made a fortune in computer software, “is nearing a decision to launch a dark-horse bid” for the Republican nomination for president. (CBS News)

Record grain crop: Led by a rebound in corn and sorghum output, world grain production is forecast to be a record 2.294 trillion tonnes in 2023/24, but consumption will be even greater, resulting in the smallest season-ending inventory in nine years. (International Grains Council)

Ag leader Stenholm dies: One of the original “Blue Dog” Democrats, former Texas Rep. Charlie Stenholm, a leading voice on agriculture policy during 13 terms in the U.S. House, died at 84. (Beef Magazine)

Bookmark the permalink.