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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Lawmakers face a packed agenda when the new Congress begins on Thursday, starting with finding a resolution to the government shutdown that hit USDA, the Interior Department and other departments and agencies in December.
The government shutdown that is now in its second week short-circuited the USDA’s implementation of the 2018 farm bill just as it was getting launched.
The Agriculture Department is closing county Farm Service Agency offices after Friday and will suspend publication of some new reports and take others offline with the partial government shutdown set to drag into the new year.
President Donald Trump signed the new farm bill into law at a White House ceremony Thursday afternoon, calling it a "really tremendous victory" for American producers.
New disclosure requirements finalized by USDA for biotech foods will exempt products with inadvertent amounts of genetically ingredients as well as vegetable oils, sugar and other foods where the DNA of genetically engineered crops can’t be detected.
USDA, EPA and the Interior Department could all shut down at the end of this week unless lawmakers can reach a deal on President Trump’s funding demands for the border wall.
A new five-year farm bill that enhances existing programs while offering new assistance to less traditional forms of agriculture and legalizing industrial hemp easily won final congressional approval from the House on Wednesday, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The new farm bill expected to head to President Donald Trump’s desk within days is making history with the breadth of support inside and outside Congress. The reason is plain to see in its 540 pages.
A compromise farm bill ready for final congressional votes melds a variety of Senate and House improvements to the major commodity programs, boosts spending on several major conservation programs while also creating a new $30 million a year program to fight animal diseases.
