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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee pressed USDA deputy secretary nominee Xochitl Torres Small Wednesday on how the department can streamline the delivery of its programs and better support underserved producers.
USDA is funneling more assistance to producers looking to maintain their organic certification as the department also stands up a new grant program to develop markets for the products.
Congressional Republicans who opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, the main funding mechanism for President Joe Biden's climate policy, would like to move the IRA's funding for climate-related farming practices into the farm bill, which could permanently boost funding for conservation programs.
Community bankers are rallying around a proposal that would provide banks with tax exemptions on interest earned from agricultural real estate or home loans in communities whose populations are below 2,500.
A rising minimum wage and a decrease in the overtime threshold in New York are both causing the state's farmers to reconsider their production decisions.
Increased confidence in the Fed may be leading more producers to expect interest rates to remain steady or decline compared to earlier in the year, according to the April Ag Economy Barometer reading.
Flooding conditions along the Mississippi River, brought on by the warming of massive quantities of snow to hit the Midwest over the winter, are expected to cause issues for inland waterway transportation into next week.
Groups representing producers of U.S. row crops are far from united on what Congress should do to improve commodity programs, even as the House and Senate Agriculture committees look to start writing a new farm bill in coming weeks.
Farm groups are calling for Agriculture Department loan program payment rates to be increased in the upcoming farm bill, while agency officials look at other ways to make the programs more accessible and flexible for producers.