Articles Tagged with ''Tom Vilsack''

The Biden administration is setting lofty goals for its $1 billion initiative to develop marketable climate-smart commodities, while establishing an aggressive timetable to get pilot projects underway before Congress writes the next farm bill.

The ag sector and lawmakers aren’t letting up pressure for another trade deal with China, especially since China’s purchase agreement ended Dec. 31, but the Biden administration still has its focus squarely on the “phase one” deal that was struck during the Trump administration.

The U.S. exported $177 billion worth of agricultural commodities in 2021, firmly besting the record in 2014 by about 15% and overshadowing 2020 totals by 18%, according to new data released by the Commerce Department.

The Biden administration is launching the application process for a $1 billion program that will test ways farms of all sizes can profit from the low-carbon commodities they produce through practices that cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Biden administration, together with U.S. shippers and the ag sector, are pressuring ocean carriers to stop turning down farm commodity shipments, but it may take Congress to force the issue.

The USDA will fund 60% of the cost of adding a new 25-acre container yard at the Port of Oakland, while also subsidizing ag exporters' shipping expenses, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the Biden administration wants to repeat the project elsewhere.

The Biden administration is out with a fresh batch of officials selected to lead state Rural Development and Farm Service Agency offices.

Some $90 billion in agriculture and child nutrition spending that’s part of the stalled Build Back Better bill is in play as the White House and congressional Democrats disassemble the $1.7 trillion measure and possibly move some of the funding into other legislation.

Interest, but also concern, is rising over three pipelines planned for the Midwest to capture carbon from ethanol plants and sequester it, which advocates for the projects say is a crucial step for meeting climate change goals.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack assures lawmakers the Biden administration is holding China to account for its failure to fulfill “phase one” trade commitments, but he stopped short of saying what steps the administration would take.