Philip Brasher

Leaders of the House and Senate Ag committees announced dueling plans for a new farm bill as the partisan impasse appeared to deepen ahead of the House panel’s planned votes on May 23. House Ag Chairman Glenn Thompson released a broad summary of his planned legislation, and his Senate counterpart, Debbie Stabenow, followed with a much more detailed section-by-section summary of her draft bill.

The Treasury Department released long-awaited guidance for a new tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel. Ethanol-derived SAF would be eligible as long as the corn is produced with three climate-smart farming practices. 

House Agriculture Committee Democrats have offered a counter proposal on the farm bill that suggests using USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation funding authority to shore up commodity programs and crop insurance, according to a summary of the proposal obtained by Agri-Pulse.

The Biden administration is expected to announce key updates this week to its carbon-intensity scoring for sustainable aviation fuel this week, while lawmakers are struggling to break a partisan impasse over a new farm bill that Republicans are determined to move through the House Ag Committee in May.

The Labor Department has finalized a series of new protections for H-2A employees, including a right to participate in advocacy efforts over working conditions and restrictions on when workers can be fired for cause. A leading industry group denounced the regulations as "offensive" and "developed in bad faith."