A bipartisan group of senators joined some Corn Belt farm groups in appealing to the Agriculture Department to ease restrictions on haying and grazing of cover crops that farmers will plant on acreage they were unable to sow to corn or soybeans this year.

USDA’s top lawyers have confirmed that unplanted crop acreage will be ineligible for trade assistance payments under the Market Facilitation Program, a government official tells Agri-Pulse.

For the second month in a row, agricultural producer sentiment experienced a big decline, erasing all gains recorded following the November 2016 election and indicating weaker expectations for the future.

The House on Monday finally cleared a $19.1 billion disaster aid package that will benefit farmers and communities who suffered from a series of natural disasters stretching back nine months.