Items Tagged with 'JOHN BOOZMAN'

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack heads to Capitol Hill this week to testify before the Senate Agriculture Committee amid growing concerns about the global food supplies and soaring costs for fertilizer and other ag inputs.

Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee heard from Michigan producers who represent a broad range of commodities, scale and farming practices as the panel formally started hearings on the next farm bill.

A bill aimed at relieving port bottlenecks and reining in shipping rates advanced through committee Tuesday, but the legislation still faces significant legislative hurdles.

With the 2022 midterm elections fast approaching, Republicans have their eyes set on capturing the House – and potentially the Senate – for the first time since 2016, while Democrats seek to hold onto control of at least one chamber.

Some $90 billion in agriculture and child nutrition spending that’s part of the stalled Build Back Better bill is in play as the White House and congressional Democrats disassemble the $1.7 trillion measure and possibly move some of the funding into other legislation.

The Biden administration is planning to use the upcoming international climate conference to promote the potential of agriculture to make food production more resilient. And in that vein, two House Agriculture subcommittees are holding a hearing today that will feature supporters of the use of biotechnology to improve agricultural productivity.

The huge budget reconciliation bill that Democrats are trying to agree on would reshape a large section of the farm bill ahead of schedule, angering farm-state Republicans who fear it will be difficult to alter the dramatically increased spending allocations for conservation programs.

Jenny Lester Moffitt has been confirmed as undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at USDA, where she will oversee the Agricultural Marketing Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee have started meeting privately to start dividing up $135 billion in new spending that would be authorized by the partisan, fiscal 2022 budget resolution the Senate is considering.

The nominee for undersecretary of natural resources and environment at USDA, who will oversee the Forest Service, promised he would work closely with local communities in managing the more than 190 million acres of national forests to prevent wildfires and create markets for wood products.