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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Saturday, September 18, 2021
The Department of Agriculture is in touch with Capitol Hill as Democratic leaders work to craft legislation that has the potential to funnel more money into the farm bill and expand the number of producers who could receive funding and assistance for government conservation programs.
The Agriculture Department is taking new steps to shore up the dairy industry by putting $400 million into the distribution of surplus dairy products to needy families while also boosting payments to farmers under the Dairy Margin Coverage program.
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.
Senate Republicans used the debate on a $3.5 trillion budget framework to force votes on energy and environmental issues that exposed potential fractures among Democrats.
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.
After weeks of negotiations, the Senate moved quickly this week to pass a bipartisan infrastructure package Tuesday that was quickly followed by a party line vote early Wednesday morning to advance a $3.5 trillion budget framework.
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.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal 2022 spending bill for the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration that includes about $7 billion in disaster assistance and $700 million for USDA’s ReConnect program for rural broadband.
The Biden administration is filling Senate-confirmed positions at the Agriculture Department at a slow pace similar to Donald Trump’s first year in office and well behind the rate at which Barack Obama stocked his sub-Cabinet positions.
