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President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Virginia Ag Commissioner Jewel Bronaugh to be the next deputy secretary of agriculture, the second highest position at USDA. If confirmed, she would be the first woman of color to hold the position.

Joe Biden is planning to start issuing a series of executive orders addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other challenges, starting Wednesday as he take office as the 46th president in a capital city fortified like a war zone.

The Labor Department finalized a series of changes Friday to ease some application and employment rules for the H-2A visa program.

USDA loosened regulatory requirements for hemp in a new rule issued Friday, giving producers more time to harvest their crops after testing for THC levels and not requiring they use laboratories registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration until the end of 2022.

The Sacramento County Superior Court has rejected an attempt by the State Water Board to expand its authority to waters no longer covered under the Clean Water Act.

Members of the American Farm Bureau Federation gathered virtually Thursday to assess any changes in the organization’s lengthy policy book.

The outgoing Trump administration is tapping unspent USDA funding to provide coronavirus relief to contract producers for the first time while providing supplemental payments to hog farms. USDA also is adjusting payments calculations for many producers who have already received Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments.

Members of the American Farm Bureau Federation gathered virtually Thursday to assess the changes the organization would pursue in its lengthy policy book.

California Farm Bureau Administrator Jim Houston said his biggest disappointment with the governor’s budget proposal was the absence of tax credits for farm employees.

A coalition of ag groups has stepped into a dispute between the Kern County ag commissioner and the Department of Pesticide Regulation.