Politics

RSS

Lawmakers have given themselves one more week to reach a deal on a new coronavirus relief package that congressional leaders want to wrap into a government-wide funding bill for fiscal 2021.

Tom Vilsack pledged to act quickly to tackle racial issues at the Agriculture Department and joined President-elect Joe Biden in promising that climate change would be a top policy priority for USDA.

Under court order, USDA is reinstating the farm labor survey that has long been used to determine minimum wage rates for H-2A workers. It’s not clear yet how the action will affect 2021 wage rates.

A new rule is designed to give packers and producers clarity on what constitutes “undue or unreasonable preference” in the meat sector, but some already say it will need an update under the Biden administration.

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped a China expert to be his U.S. Trade Representative, reflecting the most pressing trade issue his administration will face on day one – the ongoing trade war with the Asian economic powerhouse.

The House has passed a new stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded through next week - and buy more time for negotiators to reach a deal on a new coronavirus relief package.

After months of complaints from U.S. dairy farmers, the Trump administration took the first step Wednesday in challenging Canada’s implementation of new tariff rate quotas. The two countries will now begin consultations under dispute rules laid out in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which could lead to the formation of an official dispute panel.

A bipartisan group of senators negotiating a $908 billion coronavirus relief package is circulating a summary of the plan that allocates $13 billion for the agriculture sector. The document was obtained by Agri-Pulse.

Joe Biden's decision to nominate Tom Vilsack to run the Agriculture Department for a second time will give Biden a policy veteran who shares his passion for addressing climate change and already has relationships with critical lawmakers and farm groups.

The next chairman of the House Agriculture Committee tells Agri-Pulse that climate policy will be a top priority for the panel in the next Congress.