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The House Agriculture Committee approved an $8.5 billion disaster bill that would cover a wide range of producers’ losses in 2020 and 2021, with somewhat more generous provisions than the recent relief programs.

Republicans and Democrats both say they are close to wrapping up the final details of a bipartisan infrastructure package for the Senate to consider.

Senate negotiators look to finalize and advance a bipartisan infrastructure bill this week, while the House debates a package of appropriations that would sharply increase funding for USDA, EPA and other departments and agencies important to agriculture.

The top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee is alleging the Biden administration improperly revised financial incentives to lure lenders to apply for the Conservation Reserve Program and that the resulting contracts may turn out to be invalid.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to be director of the Bureau of Land Management after a sharply partisan debate over her truthfulness about a 1989 tree-spiking incident on an Idaho national forest.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sparred with Republican senators Wednesday over a House-passed bill that would create a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers, and the squabble showcased the divisions that have prevented Congress from passing immigration reform legislation for decades.

Soybean farmers recently approved 181 new checkoff-funded projects totaling $78 million focused on increasing demand and value for U.S. soybeans in hopes to boost profitability in the years ahead.

Some Senate Democrats are talking about adding immigration measures, including farmworker provisions, to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that they’re developing. But critics say it’s highly unlikely the Senate parliamentarian would allow immigration language to stay in a budget reconciliation measure.

One of the 11 Republican senators negotiating the final details of the bipartisan infrastructure package says it’s possible to have the bill text ready by the middle of the week.

The Senate faces a Wednesday deadline to vote on a bipartisan infrastructure package even as Democrats try to finalize a bigger $3.5 trillion package of climate provisions and domestic spending initiatives.