Articles by Philip Brasher

Employers who use the H-2A program are seeking nationwide relief from a Labor Department rule that has already been enjoined in 17 states. 

A senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee said Monday lawmakers are considering attaching a package of farm income support to a farm bill extension that could be enacted at the end of the year.

House Republicans this week will put a focus on a key part of the Biden administration’s climate policy that former President Donald Trump is promising to undo if he wins the White House. 

House Republicans will force a vote this week on EPA’s new emission standards that critics say amount to a mandate for electric vehicles. Meanwhile, some staff-level talks continue on a possible new farm bill amid a continued sharp divide over how to fund it.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is downplaying the potential impact on agriculture of former President Donald Trump’s proposal to impose across-the-board tariffs on U.S. imports. At the same time, he says Trump’s tariff policy is critical to protecting U.S. industry, and he denies that tariffs would increase consumer prices.

Former President Donald Trump, responding to a survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, is throwing his support behind increasing commodity price supports and other assistance for producers. But Vice President Kamala Harris notes Trump proposed budgets that would have cut some farm programs. 

USDA lowered its estimate of the already sagging farmgate price of corn while maintaining relatively strong forecasts for corn and soybean production.

Leaders of the House and Senate Ag committees are working together to lay the groundwork for passing a farm bill before the end of the year. That’s according to a memo to House Ag Committee Democrats from the panel’s ranking member, David Scott of Georgia.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is making it pretty clear he has no plans to take up a farm bill this year. Schumer on Tuesday criticized House GOP leaders for omitting a farm bill extension from a continuing resolution that’s needed to keep the government funded after Sept. 30.

The cost of groceries was flat in August as lower prices for vegetables, grains and baked goods helped offset price increases for beef, poultry, eggs and dairy products.