Articles Tagged with ''Tom Vilsack''

The Senate Agriculture Committee holds a long-awaited hearing this week on two more USDA nominees, including department’s undersecretary for trade, as Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack struggles to fill out his team 21 months into the administration.

The thorny and politically charged issue of the sustainability of the food system is once again front and center in the debate over the government's dietary guidelines.

The Biden administration is pouring $2.8 billion, far more than originally planned, into a series of pilot projects aimed at developing markets for climate-smart commodities in every state and across a wide range of commodities and farm types. Another $700 million for smaller projects will be awarded later.

The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, heads to Capitol Hill this week to face lawmakers who are sharply divided over the agency’s plan to require corporations to track and disclose greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains.

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service is still planning to resume publishing its weekly export sales report on Sept. 15, but that report will be much larger than normal because it will contain four weeks of data that haven’t been published because of problems installing a new reporting system, according to USDA officials.

The Department of Agriculture plans to leverage $400 million to bolster local food supply chains through its new Regional Food Business Centers.

Comments submitted to USDA revealed sharp divisions over the department's proposed rule aimed at improving transparency in poultry contracts and the tournament payment system used in the industry.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the handful of funding recipients for USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities Program he announced Tuesday should provide a framework for a broader rollout in two weeks.