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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.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., brought new hope to the renewable fuel industry last week by resurrecting scrapped measures from last year’s Build Back Better Act into a scaled-back version of the bill.

As ships filled with Ukrainian grain leave Odesa ports for the first time in five months, the Ukrainian ag sector is cautiously optimistic that trade will save farmers, and the United Nations is hoping to see food prices drop for the neediest countries.

Producers have signed up in increasing numbers to protect grasslands, adding more of a “working” element to the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers for employing conservation practices on their land.

Federal programs intended to help farms and other rural businesses can have intimidating application processes or payment structures that render them inaccessible to some of their target recipients. Testimony in front of some congressional committees is raising these concerns while a series of webinars aims to help farmers and food entrepreneurs navigate the process.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Kentucky Farm Bureau are partnering to support communities in the state’s eastern region impacted by recent flash flooding. 

A leader in animal protein production announced Monday a donation of nearly $5 million aimed to help food banks struggling with increased food prices.

The Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday a new partnership created to improve wastewater sanitation in rural and historically underserved communities.

The nation’s producers are feeling a little better about the state of farm finances but are still a little worried about the prices they’ll receive for their commodities, and those they will have to pay for important inputs in the next year.