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The Departments of Agriculture and Energy announced Friday they are providing up to $30 million for research and development in advanced biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products.

Announcing new renewable energy funding, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said “Biofuels and other renewable energy sources present an enormous economic opportunity for rural America.”

In a passionate vision for America speech Wednesday, President Obama presented his plan to trim U.S. debt by $4 trillion over the next 12 years.

In a hearing on Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform rules, House Agriculture Subcommittee Chair Michael Conaway, R-Texas, charged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with going beyond the intent of Congress.

Ten Republican senators sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow urging immediate committee action to block continued regulatory overreach by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A wide variety of spending cuts, as well as a few spending increases and policy riders are included in the final details of the 2011 budget compromise which was released early Tuesday morning by the Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Washington week ahead: the last-moment deal which cancelled Friday's threatened federal government shutdown offers only temporary relief since tougher budget battles will continue this week.

Staff members worked throughout the weekend to fill in details of a compromise spending plan that will cut $78.5 billion below the President’s 2011 budget proposal and $38.5 billion from federal spending, including cuts in farm program spending

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday that USDA is revising its REAP (Rural Energy for America Program) to provide grants and guaranteed loans to help the nation's 110,000 gas stations and convenience stores install ethanol blender pumps.

USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said that although funding will be a challenge, USDA remains committed to “voluntary, incentive-based conservation.”