Articles Tagged with ''Agriculture Department''

Democrats win Senate approval of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package after modifying some provisions to assuage party moderates but preserving historic debt relief for minority farmers that Republicans tried to strip from the bill.

An Agri-Pulse analysis shows that the Trump administration's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments were distributed more widely than traditional forms of government assistance although larger farms continue to receive the big share of the money.

Democrats pushed President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package through the House early Saturday despite progressives' fears about the future of a minimum-wage increase that's included in the measure.

Even as congressional Democrats push through a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, attention is turning to legislation that could be use to fund agricultural climate initiatives: an infrastructure package that could be in the range of $3 trillion.

Tom Vilsack finally gets his Senate vote to join the Biden administration for a second stint as agriculture secretary, and two other nominees important to farmers and ranchers get hearings this week.

The Department of Agriculture expects U.S. farm exports to hit a record $157 billion for fiscal 2021, an increase of $21 billion over the year before, as the global economy recovers and China increases its already strong demand for U.S. corn, soybeans and meat.

Democrats are preparing to pour money into federal conservation programs as a key way to pay farmers to address climate change. Converting marginal croplands to grass through the Conservation Reserve Program is one way to do it, but the question is whether USDA can get landowners interested in it again.

Democrats forced a $16.1 billion agriculture stimulus plan through the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, brushing aside Republican assertions that a provision providing debt relief for minority farmers was far too broad and could face legal challenges.

Democrats are moving to provide unprecedented amounts of debt relief and other assistance to Black farmers and other minority producers as part of a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that's being designed to address racial justice as well as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Agriculture stimulus provisions released by Democrats on Tuesday would pay off minority farmers' USDA loans and provide $4 billion for purchasing commodities and providing pandemic-related assistance to processors and other parts of the food supply chain.