More pandemic aid on tap for agriculture, says Vilsack Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced up to $ 200 million in pandemic relief for loggers and timber haulers on Tuesday and said “there is more to come” for agriculture in the weeks ahead. Aid will include $ 700 million for biofuel producers and $ 980 million […]
Court losses are only temporary setbacks, says ethanol industry Despite losing two high-profile cases in seven days, the ethanol industry says the future is bright for the corn-based biofuel that it promotes as a low-carbon alternative to gasoline and a tool to slow global warming. Ongoing delays in P-EBT slow rollout of Biden’s summer food […]
Biden says no to higher gas taxes to pay for infrastructure If a bipartisan infrastructure deal holds, Midwesterners can expect upgrades to roads, bridges and broadband networks, President Biden said on Tuesday in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. “There is no gas tax (increase),” he said. “Working families have already paid enough.” Sonny Perdue’s undisclosed deal with ADM […]
Biden tax plan puts U.S. farms at risk, says Boozman Farmers could face huge tax bills if President Biden succeeds in raising capital gains tax rates and eliminating a loophole for inherited assets such as farmland, said the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee. The proposals are unpopular in farm country. Arid weather trims […]
Fairness in cattle markets will be a top priority, says Hipp Agricultural law expert Janie Hipp promised on Thursday to be “a big voice at the interdepartmental table” in dealing with cattle prices and biofuels if she is confirmed by the Senate to lead the USDA’s legal shop. “I commit to you that I will […]
‘Legitimate reason’ behind debt relief for minority farmers, says Vilsack The USDA will proceed with $ 4 billion in loan forgiveness for socially disadvantaged farmers despite lawsuits that want to add white farmers to the program, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The assistance is intended to address the cumulative effect of ingrained discrimination […]
Before a USDA carbon bank, try some pilot projects, says climate alliance A few weeks ago, USDA climate adviser Robert Bonnie used a variant of “walk before you run” to describe the Biden administration goal of bipartisan support for climate mitigation in agriculture. On Monday, a sector-spanning coalition said the USDA “needs to crawl before […]
Transplanted USDA agencies will stay in Kansas City, says Vilsack Despite complaints the Trump administration needlessly uprooted them, two USDA research agencies will stay in Kansas City rather than return to the D.C. area, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. Child-hunger advocates hope Biden’s expansion of P-EBT becomes a permanent solution to summer food […]
Opportunities coming for land stewardship, says Vilsack The USDA is days away from announcing “greater opportunities” for landowners to take fragile farmland out of production in exchange for an annual payment, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday. Since early February, the Biden administration has been mulling how to stop a 13-year decline in enrollment […]
Debt relief will be distributed as quickly, carefully as possible, says Vilsack The USDA will disburse up to $ 4 billion in Biden-backed loan forgiveness to minority farmers as speedily as possible, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the first-ever House Agriculture Committee hearing on the state of Black farmers. Farm state Republicans said the […]
Tackle hunger and diet quality at the same time, says Vilsack U.S. anti-hunger programs should address the twin challenges of nutrition — supplying enough food and encouraging diets built around healthy food — at the same time after decades of focusing on a lack of food for poor Americans, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on […]
Equity commission will root out systemic racism in USDA programs, says Vilsack At the same time USDA announced its first-ever senior adviser for racial equity, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Monday that an equity commission would “identify and root out any systemic racism that may exist” in USDA programs. Climate mitigation ‘designed by farmers […]
‘One step closer,’ says Biden as aid bill moves to Senate A three-month extension of higher SNAP benefits and $ 4 billion in debt relief for minority farmers are in the hands of the Senate following a 219-212 vote by the House over the weekend. “We are one step closer,” said President Biden, who used […]
We don’t have a day to waste’ on climate mitigation, says Vilsack U.S. agriculture faces a triple imperative — market, environment, and income — in responding to climate change, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday, his first day on the job. “We don’t have a day to waste on this,” he told reporters while […]
The template for climate mitigation is soil conservation, says farm-enviro alliance The new era of climate mitigation on the farm would look like a beefed-up version of longstanding USDA conservation programs, augmented by a carbon bank that sets a floor price for carbon sequestration and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, said leaders of the Food […]
USDA seeks ways to ‘de-risk’ climate mitigation, says Bonnie Farmers face significant expenses in adopting climate mitigation practices, and the Biden administration is pondering how to “de-risk those investments,” possibly through a so-called carbon bank, said USDA climate adviser Robert Bonnie on Thursday. “Can we look at some new authorities to create some new financing […]