Articles Tagged with ''Agriculture Department''

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announces plans to finance a series of large-scale projects on climate-smart farming and forestry practices. He's also tapping his Commodity Credit Corp. spending authority to promote drought resilience, combat African swine fever, and assist farms and schools with supply chain disruptions.

The huge budget reconciliation bill that Democrats are trying to agree on would reshape a large section of the farm bill ahead of schedule, angering farm-state Republicans who fear it will be difficult to alter the dramatically increased spending allocations for conservation programs.

Congressional Democrats have agreed on conservation and debt relief provisions that would immediately ramp up climate-focused conservation spending, including direct payments for cover crops, while also paying off loans for at-risk USDA borrowers.

USDA is putting $75 million into 15 projects around the country that are led by private organizations or state governments and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide other environmental benefits.

Agri-Pulse obtained a summary of the long-awaited $28 billion conservation plan that Democrats are circulating on Capitol Hill.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the Biden administration will be announcing new steps on agriculture and climate “very, very shortly” and also will start filling the department’s state-level leadership positions within days.

Congressional Democrats, who are already struggling to agree on their signature Build Back Better spending plan, face the even more immediate task of averting a government shutdown and default.

President Joe Biden has selected a veteran civil rights lawyer who teaches at the University of Michigan to lead the civil rights office at the Agriculture Department, which is under pressure to address long-standing complaints about discrimination.

House Democrats look to finish pulling together their $3.5 trillion tax and spending package this week, despite a fierce internal struggle over the taxes they need to pay for it and delays in finalizing $94 billion in agriculture provisions.