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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Crop insurance companies and their agents have spent years fighting off cuts in Congress or at USDA. Now, they're arguing limits imposed more than a decade ago are unfairly shrinking returns for specialty crop policies, a priority sector for policymakers, and appealing for an increase in federal reimbursement.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with President Joe Biden this week as Republicans push for a deal pairing spending cuts with a debt ceiling increase, while the Congressional Budget Office will release new economic projections that could make it easier – or harder – for lawmakers to write a new farm bill.
Rice producers can start signing up next week for $250 million in special payments Congress provided to shore up grower income after lackluster returns in 2022.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s index of global food commodity prices rose for the first time in a year last month, led by increases in the cost of sugar and meat.
Many farm groups are calling on Congress to mandate more funding for agricultural research, arguing that the U.S. is falling behind China and other countries. But a top House appropriator says that funding for research decisions should continue to be left to the discretion of the lawmakers who write the annual spending bills for USDA.
A bipartisan measure being introduced today in the House and Senate would increase the number of technical service advisers available to help farmers take advantage of USDA conservation programs.
Farmers like Caleb Ragland are missing out on a big part of the farm bill’s safety net, and lawmakers are struggling to figure out what to do about it.