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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, September 22, 2024
President Joe Biden is set to sign a bill reforming the funding and operation of the U.S. Postal Service, with provisions aimed at improving service in rural areas.
Conservation groups and the Biden administration are betting big that the promise of direct payments to farmers will supercharge their interest in cover crops, a practice relatively few have tried despite documented benefits to soil health, greenhouse emissions and water quality.
Congressional Democrats are punting the next battle over the debt limit until after the 2022 elections, checking off a key item on their long December to-do list, but chances for moving their Build Back Better bill through the Senate are looking less likely.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has suspended work on its vaccination/testing mandate for private businesses even as some Republicans in Congress vow to oppose funding to enforce the rule.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow says she’s “very optimistic” that substantial new funding for farm bill conservation programs will be included in the $3.5 trillion spending agreement that Democrats have announced. Stabenow has been seeking $50 billion in new conservation funding to promote climate-friendly farming practices.
The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack are taking exception to the white farmers who are challenging a debt relief program for minority producers.
President Joe Biden pushed back against Republicans who are arguing his infrastructure bill has unrelated items in it. Projects related to clean water, schools and high-speed rail all qualify as infrastructure projects, he said.
In an interview with Agri-Pulse, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said he’s open to helping aspiring Black farmers acquire the acreage they need by tapping federal land holdings. Vilsack made clear that his goal as secretary is to address the impact of a legacy of discrimination against minority farmers. It’s no longer an issue of just compensating producers who were the victims of discrimination themselves.
Tom Vilsack’s return to USDA has been on hold for reasons because of delays in getting the 50-50 Senate organized. But incoming Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow tells Agri-Pulse she hopes to get Vilsack’s nomination for agriculture secretary approved “as soon as possible” once she takes over the committee.
