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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The fresh produce sector is joining dairy processors and the supermarket industry in welcoming the Biden administration’s decision to boost SNAP benefits by 27%. The increase comes from revisions to the Thrifty Food Plan, a calculation that USDA uses to determine benefits. The increase is due in part to the fact that the revision is supposed to bring benefit levels in line with federal dietary guidelines.
Members of the U.S. House may want to make note of this: Most teenagers believe unreliable access to high-speed internet and lack of digital skills are driving economic and social inequities in their communities, according to a Harris poll sponsored by the National 4-H Council and a coalition that includes Land O’Lakes, Microsoft and Verizon.
The prolonged drought in the upper Midwest is dragging down crop yields by more than the government or traders expected, although U.S. farmers should produce 4% more corn and 5% more soybeans this year than they did in 2020, according to the Agriculture Department's first survey-based estimates of the fall harvest.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer is making it clear he wants the Senate to finish its $3.5 trillion reconciliation package by Sept. 15. “We’ve got a chance, a good decent chance” of passing the bill, he told reporters Wednesday.
Senate Republicans have forced Democrats to go on the record as protecting existing tax benefits when it comes to transferring farm assets from one generation to the next.
California regulations that will require hog farms to provide sows with more housing space starting in 2022 will likely pose logistical challenges for pork exports while increasing production costs and raising retail prices, say producers and industry analysts.
The Senate passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill that would provide $550 billion in new funding to repair America’s roads, bridges ports and waterways, while dramatically increasing high-speed internet access.
A former chair of the House Agriculture Committee is warning the committee about the potential downside of creating a permanent disaster assistance program for producers. Speaking on a panel at Minnesota’s Farmfest Wednesday, Collin Peterson said it’s important that the program not undermine crop insurance.
More than 200 groups, including a wide range of environmental organizations, are calling on Democratic congressional leaders today to use their reconciliation package to significantly increase funding for conservation programs.
A massive bipartisan infrastructure bill the Senate is debating this week would make a historic $65 billion investment in expanding high-speed internet, but the bulk of the funding would be routed through states, and rural broadband advocates want to see the Agriculture Department play a bigger role in distributing the funding.
