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The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to be director of the Bureau of Land Management after a sharply partisan debate over her truthfulness about a 1989 tree-spiking incident on an Idaho national forest.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sparred with Republican senators Wednesday over a House-passed bill that would create a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers, and the squabble showcased the divisions that have prevented Congress from passing immigration reform legislation for decades.

Soybean farmers recently approved 181 new checkoff-funded projects totaling $78 million focused on increasing demand and value for U.S. soybeans in hopes to boost profitability in the years ahead.

Some Senate Democrats are talking about adding immigration measures, including farmworker provisions, to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that they’re developing. But critics say it’s highly unlikely the Senate parliamentarian would allow immigration language to stay in a budget reconciliation measure.

One of the 11 Republican senators negotiating the final details of the bipartisan infrastructure package says it’s possible to have the bill text ready by the middle of the week.

The Senate faces a Wednesday deadline to vote on a bipartisan infrastructure package even as Democrats try to finalize a bigger $3.5 trillion package of climate provisions and domestic spending initiatives.

The $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that Senate Democrats are putting together could have significant implications for agriculture when it comes to taxes and climate policy. One aspect to watch: A proposed border adjustment tax on carbon.

Now that farmers and the companies and consultants who support them have embraced the need for field-level data collection and have adopted myriad methods for gathering it, ag leaders say the industry has reached the critical juncture of figuring out what to do with all that information.

The House Agriculture Committee unanimously advanced a bipartisan bill Wednesday authorizing $43 billion to expand rural broadband service nationwide by dramatically increasing USDA's expiring loan and grant program.

Bills introduced in the House and Senate would allow summertime sales of higher ethanol blends, addressing a recent court decision that found the Environmental Protection Agency's waiver allowing year-round sales of E15 exceeded legislative intent.