Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights. Sunday, June 21, 2026

Rural

bridge

Biden infrastructure plan hits major rural needs, but short on detail, ag funding

President Joe Biden's $2.7 trillion infrastructure plan would address some long-standing needs in rural America with substantial new funding for roads, bridges, waterways and broadband, but the plan doesn't provide the major boost in farm conservation spending that many ag groups say is needed to get more farmers to adopt climate-smart practices.
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Planting corn

USDA reopens CFAP 2 signup

Producers can once again sign up to receive funding from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program after a freeze on the program from the early days of the Biden administration and the recent rollout of additional funds for pandemic relief.
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Rural broadband

Daybreak March 31: Scott: Debt relief unrelated to reparations

Some advocates of the newly-enacted debt relief provisions for minority farmers have called it a form of reparations. But House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott, who is African American, strenuously objects to that characterization. He says the $4 billion just makes up for the fact that white farmers primarily benefitted from the billions of dollars in recent farm payments.



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Flodded corn

Experts say crop insurance program reflects climate change, new innovations

The debate over climate policy usually includes some discussion about whether the U.S. crop insurance system should be changed to either incentivize more conservation or better address weather threats. Yet two experts said this public-private partnership is already reflecting changes in climate and new innovations in agriculture, with the potential for more targeted improvements to come.
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