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A new five-year farm bill that enhances existing programs while offering new assistance to less traditional forms of agriculture and legalizing industrial hemp easily won final congressional approval from the House on Wednesday, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature.

Provisions in a House subcommittee draft bill addressing high-octane fuel and restructuring the Renewable Fuel Standard drew criticism, and some praise, from industry stakeholders Tuesday.

Many areas covered by the Obama administration’s “waters of the U.S.” rule would be removed from federal oversight under a proposal released today by the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers.

A compromise farm bill ready for final congressional votes melds a variety of Senate and House improvements to the major commodity programs, boosts spending on several major conservation programs while also creating a new $30 million a year program to fight animal diseases.

While some things about farming just don’t change, the fact of the matter is that Mother Nature, our most important business partner, is changing dramatically.

Lawmakers seek to move their long-awaited farm bill this week, and the Trump administration is set to release a new “waters of the U.S.” rule that would remove ephemeral streams and many wetlands from federal jurisdiction.

The Bureau of Land Management’s new management plans for tens of millions of acres of greater sage-grouse habitat aim to give BLM and seven Western states “flexibility” to address threats to the bird’s continued existence, BLM said in releasing the plans Thursday.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has advanced three USDA nominations toward final floor votes, but at least one appears unlikely to win confirmation before this Congress adjourns.