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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Farm-state lawmakers guided more than $753 million in USDA funding into home state projects in this fiscal year’s $26.22 billion Agriculture appropriations bill through a system that allows them to direct money to research facilities, hospitals, community buildings and other pet programs.
Farmers who have experienced discrimination from USDA in farm lending programs should get assistance sometime this summer, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing Wednesday that lacked the partisan vitriol of the secretary’s appearance last week before the House Ag Committee.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s long-awaited action on a looming petition that would authorize the year-round sale of higher ethanol blends came Thursday, but with a caveat that frustrated the biofuels industry.
Neil Kornze has moved to K Street to be the senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates. Kornze is a former chief of staff for Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and served as the director of the Bureau of Land Management during the Obama administration.
The U.S. and Mexico continue to engage over Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s threat to ban genetically modified corn imports, but there were strong signs from senators Wednesday that patience is wearing thin on Capitol Hill for a resolution.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday that the U.S. is prepared to call for a dispute resolution panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement unless Mexico backs off its plan to bar at least some U.S. exports of biotech corn.
A request from several Midwest governors to sell E15 year-round in their home states is now before the White House Office of Management and Budget. The news comes as 24 House members introduced a bill to match Senate legislation on the subject.
New legislation from a bipartisan group of 15 farm-state senators to pave the way for summer sales of higher ethanol blends carries not only the endorsement of biofuel groups but also the principal organization for the oil and gas industry.
Two major players in the energy space are in talks with a key Capitol Hill Republican on legislation that would allow sales of higher ethanol blends to continue unimpeded by current summer fuel volatility restrictions.
