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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, March 05, 2025
Farmers and rural businesses that signed contracts with the Agriculture Department to install renewable energy sources or energy-efficiency technology on their operations in exchange for federal grant funding are seeing funding held up amid a federal funding freeze.
Democrats on the House and Senate Agriculture committees are proposing $10 billion in market relief for farmers as the parties spar over an extension of the 2018 farm bill, Agri-Pulse has learned. House GOP leaders, however, have so far objected to the method used to cover the cost of the farm payments.
Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee are offering to advance some Democratic policy priorities on issues ranging from nutrition assistance to rural community aid in a bid to win bipartisan support for a new farm bill.
The Agriculture Department on Thursday said it will be distributing $124 million through two programs aimed at expanding renewable energy and fertilizer production.
The Biden administration is forming a new joint program between the Departments of Agriculture and Energy that aims to quadruple the use of wind energy under a federal program.
The Biden administration announced $772.6 million Wednesday to support more than 200 projects in rural communities, addressing high-speed internet, drinking water and wastewater.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack used his speech at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention to roll out more than $200 million in loans and grants through programs meant to bolster American production of fertilizer and renewable energy.
Fresh off the heels of a nearly $266 million renewable energy announcement from USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is urging a hands-off approach by those outside the department looking to tweak the agency’s funding pools.
House Democrats accused Republicans of breaking the debt ceiling agreement by advancing a fiscal 2024 spending bill for USDA and FDA that would cut funding to near FY22 levels while also relying on funding rescissions that have little chance of being enacted.
The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program is receiving a $1 billion boost from the Inflation Reduction Act to fund projects improving the renewable energy infrastructure across farm country.
