New data from USDA show that China has a long way to go to fulfill its “phase one” commitments, despite a surge in sales in recent weeks.

USDA budgeted $16 billion for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and hasn’t paid out anywhere close to that amount yet. But USDA says in a statement to Agri-Pulse the department will save any unused funds to help provide farmer assistance during the “remainder of 2020 and into 2021.”

Major farm groups are working to ensure that a new coronavirus relief package provides more specific directions to the Agriculture Department on how to distribute $20 billion in additional relief.

It’s primary day in Kansas, and Democrats are betting big that pouring campaign money into a Republican Senate race can help them steal a Senate seat in November.

High-level talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows are entering their second week. Pelosi is baffled why food assistance is not mentioned in the GOP package.

The Trump administration and House Democrats have yet to reach a coronavirus relief deal, and billions in agriculture funding and food assistance increases hang in the balance as the high-level talks move slowly.

Millions of dollars have flowed into a contentious Republican primary to fill retiring Sen. Pat Roberts’ seat as Kansas voters head to the polls on Tuesday.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s top Democrat is insisting the next coronavirus relief bill contain more money for food assistance.

The Trump administration’s rewrite of National Environmental Policy Act regulations “upends virtually every aspect of NEPA and its longstanding practice, contradicts decades of court interpretations of NEPA’s mandates, and undercuts the reliance placed on NEPA by the public, decisionmakers, and project proponents,” a lawsuit filed Wednesday says.

Agreement on a new coronavirus relief package could be several weeks away, but a key GOP senator is signaling some give on one major sticking point in the negotiations.