Articles Tagged with ''pandemic''

House Democrats have launched an investigation into coronavirus outbreaks in meat processing plants and the Trump administration’s alleged failure to adequately protect workers.

Agriculture groups are planning to appeal to the Biden administration for an exemption from the upcoming South Africa travel ban to allow H-2A workers to get to the United States to start work on U.S. farms.

The Senate is set to confirm Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen while formally starting an impeachment trial that threatens to slow down progress on President Joe Biden’s agenda.

Joe Biden took office at noon Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, appealing to the nation to end its “uncivil war” and reach across partisan and urban-lines to address the “cascading crises” facing the country, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $900 billion COVID relief bill, passed in late December, is providing new funding for programs to help feed the millions of people whose jobs have been lost to the pandemic, but anti-hunger advocates say more help is needed and have already turned to Congress and the incoming Biden administration for help.

Joe Biden is planning to start issuing a series of executive orders addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other challenges, starting Wednesday as he take office as the 46th president in a capital city fortified like a war zone.

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.

A surge of nationwide cheese demand driven at least in part by the Trump administration’s Farmers to Families Food Box program sparked wild swings in dairy markets and fueled a new debate over changes in federal milk pricing policy made in the 2018 farm bill.

USDA officials tell Agri-Pulse they are working “amicably” with the Biden transition team, which is paving the way for the incoming administration next week. On the international front, the transition team has been pressing USDA for details on the impacts of the “phase one” trade deal with China.

Nathan Ohle, Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, discusses how rural and tribal communities are in need of support and resources after being hit hard by the pandemic.