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<p>Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.</p>
Wednesday, April 02, 2025
The Democratic-controlled Senate on Sunday passed an historic package of financial incentives for cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, including a dramatic increase in farm bill conservation programs aimed at spurring farmers to adopt climate-related farming practices.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced an agreement with Sen. Joe Manchin on a narrow reconciliation bill that would provide $369 billion in climate-related provisions, including more than $20 billion for farm bill conservation assistance and additional incentives for low-carbon biofuels and rural electric co-ops.
The demise of President Joe Biden’s climate funding plan on Capitol Hill makes it a lot harder, but not impossible, to help farmers ramp up climate-related practices. But the administration retains a powerful tool in the Commodity Credit Corp., and there will be pressure to steer farm bill funds into climate priorities.
President Joe Biden is insisting that he will pursue his climate agenda by executive action, now that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., appears to have killed any hope of passing a package of clean energy incentives and farm bill conservation funding.
President Joe Biden has nominated a longtime aide to be the chief agricultural negotiator for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., has joined the House Agriculture Committee.
The House is expected to clear a bill this week aimed at ending port bottlenecks and also pass a package of measures that Democrats claim will help bring food, fertilizer and fuel prices under control.
Labor unions are joining up with ocean carriers to fight proposals in Congress to reform rules for shipping U.S. food aid. Under cargo preference requirements, half of the food must be shipped on U.S.-flag carriers.
President Joe Biden has announced his intent to appoint Joy Kono as the Farm Service Agency state director for Hawaii and Maria Gallegos Herrera as the Rural Development state director for California.
The White House on Wednesday announced plans to hold the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in September, the first such meeting in 53 years.
