The Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday easily approved the nomination of Janie Simms Hipp, a long-time agricultural law specialist and member of the Chickasaw Nation, to become the Agriculture Department's general counsel.

A broad coalition of farm and conservation groups says a USDA-run carbon bank should be used to test ways to establish carbon accounting guidelines, expand the use of climate-friendly farming practices and enable small-scale farms and minority producers to benefit from carbon markets.

A new report from the AGree coalition recommends alternatives for the Agriculture Department to consider in setting up a carbon bank that could be used to develop private credit markets and to assist producers who may be left out of them.

Gov. Gavin Newsom makes appointments to California's Regional Water Quality Boards and Church Brothers Farms makes additions to its sales team.

Robert Bonnie has been tapped to be the next USDA undersecretary for farm production and conservation programs, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai appoints Elizabeth Baltzan as a senior adviser.

USDA’s top climate adviser, Robert Bonnie, says agriculture and forestry are going to figure in any new climate commitments that the United States makes to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The House this week is expected to clear President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan after Senate Democrats fought off GOP attempts to gut the package in a marathon debate that went all night Friday to nearly noon on Saturday.