Farm Bill

RSS

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson says despite the talk of a farm bill extension, he’d still like to a bill done soon.

Leaders of the House and Senate Ag committees are struggling to agree on terms of a farm bill extension.

Iowa congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee’s agriculture subcommittee, defended her vote against the ag appropriations bill in September, saying it "really made cuts that would undermine rural America." 

President Joe Biden and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack are stopping at a Minnesota farm today to announce $5 billion in funding for projects across rural America.

Lawmakers are looking at boosting subsidies for supplemental, area-based crop insurance policies to induce growers to buy higher levels of coverage, which could potentially reduce the demand from farm groups for ad hoc disaster assistance.

Lawmakers want to use the farm bill to make the Agriculture Department's ReConnect loan and grant program for rural broadband permanent, but they still need to settle a debate about whether to ease the required service speeds.

Organic industry leaders are hoping the popularity of the Biden administration's transition assistance for new producers entering the sector will encourage lawmakers to put even more funding into such efforts.

Rep. Frank Lucas, the chair of the House Ag Committee during the development of the 2014 farm bill, has an optimistic view of the newly-elected House Speaker and discussed his perspective on how the timelines for the farm bill and appropriations bills may be influenced by this change in leadership on this week's Agri-Pulse Newsmakers.

The top Republican on the Senate Ag Committee, John Boozman, says he doesn’t know whether the extra money Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow has identified for the next farm bill will be enough to bolster commodity programs and crop insurance.