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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday announced $2.7 billion in total funding from USDA's Commodity Credit Corp. account to build domestic fertilizer capacity, support school meal providers and fund emergency commodity purchases by states.
The top Democrat on the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee is defending Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack's usage of the Commodity Credit Corp. account and says Congress should "absolutely not" impose new restrictions.
Many farm groups are calling on Congress to mandate more funding for agricultural research, arguing that the U.S. is falling behind China and other countries. But a top House appropriator says that funding for research decisions should continue to be left to the discretion of the lawmakers who write the annual spending bills for USDA.
A key House Republican wants to reinstate a restriction on USDA’s use of its Commodity Credit Corp. Rep. Andy Harris, who chairs the House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee, claims Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack misused the CCC to fund the $3 billion Partnerships in Climate-Smart Commodities initiative.
The Agriculture Department plans to loosen up existing Conservation Reserve Program rules by allowing participants to request termination of their CRP contract if they are in their final year of the agreement.
The top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee accused the Biden administration on Tuesday of keeping lawmakers in the dark on plans for a new $1 billion climate program.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack assures lawmakers the Biden administration is holding China to account for its failure to fulfill “phase one” trade commitments, but he stopped short of saying what steps the administration would take.
The Department of Agriculture is distributing $1.5 billion to the nation’s school meal program operators to help them deal with supply chain challenges that are driving up costs.
Successive presidents have ramped up use of a Depression-era tool, USDA's Commodity Credit Corp., to pour billions of dollars into their policy priorities with limited input from Congress. Republicans, who handcuffed Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack's use of the CCC for years, are less resistant now.