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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Monday, September 20, 2021
In response to growing concerns about COVID-19, more than 30 state and national agricultural organizations representing farm, commodity and agribusiness communities joined together to promote vaccination among farmers and other rural Americans.
A dozen major farm groups have jumped into the fray over conservation funding in the estimated $3.5 trillion reconciliation package Democrats plan to introduce in the Senate, calling for “increased investment in climate-smart agricultural practices that sequester carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
More workers and a more diverse food system, including small and medium-sized meatpackers, are necessary for American agriculture to maintain resilience in the face of threats to the system, commenters told USDA as the department embarks on its effort to reimagine the country's agricultural supply chains.
President Joe Biden is expected to release a new round of spending proposals this week, plus the tax increases to pay for them. Farm groups have been raising concerns for weeks about those tax proposals in the expectation they will include either the elimination of stepped-up basis or a new “transfer” tax on inherited assets.
Farmer cooperatives hope a new “Made in America” directive from the Biden administration will lead to more U.S. products being used in the nation’s school lunch program.
President-elect Joe Biden is out with a $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal that includes some significant new food assistance provisions, including an extension through the summer of the 15% increase in SNAP benefits provided by the COVID aid package enacted in December.
The Trump administration is unlikely to make a needed fix to tax regulations for farmer co-operatives, leaving many growers at risk of seeing higher tax bills, according to the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.
The Agriculture Department proposes to take over the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of gene-altered animals, a potential victory for livestock groups seeking to speed approval of genetic modifications.
Recent years of financial stress and trade disruption in agriculture, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, produced new challenges for farmer-owned agricultural coops and have prompted many to rethink their business models.
