Articles Tagged with ''pandemic''

In this opinion piece, Julie Greene with Olam International discusses the need for partnerships so farmers to make a full and more prosperous recovery due to COVID-19.

USDA announced Wednesday plans to spend at least $6 billion on new pandemic aid programs that reach a broader swath of producers than previous efforts, while putting “a greater emphasis on outreach to small and socially disadvantaged producers, specialty crop and organic producers (and) timber harvesters.”

In the early days and weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand at the nation’s food banks swelled. It’s gone down and up over the year, and in many places remains higher today than the baseline before the pandemic.

In this opinion piece, Becky Rasdall with the International Dairy Foods Association discusses the freight issues currently plaguing U.S. dairy and many other commodities and exporting industries.

The USDA keeps a tight lid on the amount of foreign sugar that enters the U.S., and the department is keeping a close eye on whether it will need to allow more into the country if consumer demand increases as the COVID-19 pandemic loosens its grasp on Americans.

Many ag jobs got designated “essential” at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A year later, masks and other safety precautions have become common in fields and packing houses. Food continues to move from the farm to the consumer. But impacts on the people making that happen have been significant.

Democrats win Senate approval of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package after modifying some provisions to assuage party moderates but preserving historic debt relief for minority farmers that Republicans tried to strip from the bill.

A key Republican says the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill Democrats are pushing through the Senate will lead to automatic cuts in farm programs and other forms of federal spending. Sen. John Boozman, the top Republican on the Senate Ag Committee, is referring to the Congressional Budget Office’s determination that the legislation would trigger the budget sequestration process under the 2011 budget law.

An Agri-Pulse analysis shows that the Trump administration's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments were distributed more widely than traditional forms of government assistance although larger farms continue to receive the big share of the money.

Democrats look to move President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package through the Senate while Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack makes his case for the new administration’s priorities to farm groups this week for the first time in his return to his old job.