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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
The House approved a pair of fiscal 2020 spending packages Tuesday that will provide a fresh infusion of disaster relief to farmers, extend the expired biodiesel credit to 2022 and bolster port inspections to protect U.S. agriculture for African swine fever and other threats.
A congressional agreement to fund the government for fiscal 2020 includes an additional $1.5 billion in disaster relief for farmers and would revive the biodiesel tax credit and extend it through 2022.
Lawmakers are trying to wrap up deals this week on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and fiscal 2020 government spending while the Trump administration faces a self-imposed deadline for getting a partial trade agreement with China.
Brushing aside an outcry from anti-hunger advocates and congressional Democrats, the Trump administration on Wednesday finalized regulations that will make it harder for states to exempt able-bodied adults from work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Net farm income is projected to rise more than 10% this year, but nearly one-third of producer earnings will come from a combination of crop insurance benefits and direct government payments, including the Trump administration's trade assistance.
Senior political leaders at USDA, which has been accused of downplaying the climate issue, say helping farmers address climate change is a priority for the department, asserting that sustainably increasing food production to feed a growing global population is a matter of “world security.”
Starting Monday, the Agriculture Department will start providing farmers their second tranche of payments under the 2019 version of the Market Facilitation Program, the Trump administration's effort to compensate farmers for the impact of retaliatory tariffs.
House and Senate negotiators will have to sort through some sharply different priorities and spending targets for USDA and other departments and agencies important to agriculture.
Senate Democrats say the Trump administration’s trade assistance is unfairly benefitting large growers and Southern farmers to the detriment of producers more deserving of the aid.