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The U.S. House should be the final stop this week for a historic funding package aimed at slashing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The Democratic-controlled Senate on Sunday passed an historic package of financial incentives for cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, including a dramatic increase in farm bill conservation programs aimed at spurring farmers to adopt climate-related farming practices.

A revised climate funding package Democrats are pushing through the Senate this weekend scraps a debt relief program for minority farmers that was blocked by the courts and replaces it with new programs earmarked for “distressed” USDA borrowers as well as farmers the department has discriminated against.

The climate funding package that Senate Democrats expect to pass this weekend will include $4 billion in drought-related funding for the Bureau of Reclamation.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has proposed long-awaited regulations covering animal welfare for organic producers that largely track changes made in a rule issued just before President Barack Obama left office, ruling out the use of screened-in porches as outdoor access for poultry.

 

Lawmakers are getting the ball rolling on another round of disaster assistance, even as much of the West and Plains are baking in drought.

Bioengineered food ingredients are safe for consumers, the Food and Drug Administration reiterated in a collection of educational materials released Thursday as part of a congressionally funded initiative.

The Congressional Budget Office has released its cost estimates for Democrats’ spending package known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

Leading farm groups are making another appeal to senators ahead of their August recess to reach agreement on reforms to the H-2A visa program for farmworkers.

The landmark climate deal Democrats hope will clear Congress in coming days would upend the coming debate over the next farm bill, satisfying demands for new conservation spending but leaving farm groups still scrambling to fund enhancements in commodity programs.