Articles Tagged with ''farm bill''

The Agriculture Department is taking new steps to shore up the dairy industry by putting $400 million into the distribution of surplus dairy products to needy families while also boosting payments to farmers under the Dairy Margin Coverage program.

Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee have started meeting privately to start dividing up $135 billion in new spending that would be authorized by the partisan, fiscal 2022 budget resolution the Senate is considering.

Senate Democrats released a fiscal 2022 budget resolution that calls for $3.5 trillion in new spending, including as much as $135 billion for agriculture and child nutrition programs, funded largely by a border carbon tariff and tax increases on capital gains and high-earning individuals.

Congressional Democrats are pushing for a historic increase in conservation program funding that would help pay farmers to address climate change, but the money also could create some challenges for the House and Senate Agriculture committees as they write the new farm bill.

Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow says that President Joe Biden’s $2.7 trillion infrastructure plan is “woefully inadequate” when it comes to funding for climate-friendly farming practices and that she's pushing for a major increase in funding for conservation programs.

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.

There are new signs of division on the Senate Agriculture Committee when it comes to climate change. The committee’s top Republican, John Boozman, told members of the National Cotton Council Thursday that funding to address climate change could come out of existing farm bill programs.

The incoming chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow, says she’ll seek to use climate legislation to put more money into conservation programs that encourage growers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Tom Vilsack’s return to USDA has been on hold for reasons because of delays in getting the 50-50 Senate organized. But incoming Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow tells Agri-Pulse she hopes to get Vilsack’s nomination for agriculture secretary approved “as soon as possible” once she takes over the committee.

The outgoing Trump administration is tapping unspent USDA funding to provide coronavirus relief to contract producers for the first time while providing supplemental payments to hog farms. USDA also is adjusting payments calculations for many producers who have already received Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments.