Steve Davies

Tom Vilsack pledged to act quickly to tackle racial issues at the Agriculture Department and joined President-elect Joe Biden in promising that climate change would be a top policy priority for USDA.

Under court order, USDA is reinstating the farm labor survey that has long been used to determine minimum wage rates for H-2A workers. It’s not clear yet how the action will affect 2021 wage rates.

The House has passed a new stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded through next week - and buy more time for negotiators to reach a deal on a new coronavirus relief package.

Environmental groups and attorneys general from 11 states are opposing EPA’s request to keep the registration of the insecticide sulfoxaflor in place until the agency can comply with Endangered Species Act requirements.

A handful of ag groups have been pushing the federal government to get farm and food employees right behind health care workers and vulnerable populations in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution line. Now, that request has also been filtered to the nation’s 50 governors.

With farmers under pressure to cut their environmental footprint, global agribusiness giants as well as small tech startups are rushing to come up with ways to slash farm pollutants and make it possible for producers to cash in on carbon credits and other new forms of income.

More than 90% of endangered species are “likely to be adversely affected” by use of glyphosate, but mostly through non-agricultural uses, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded in a biological evaluation of the impacts of the herbicide released Wednesday.

President-elect Joe Biden says he’ll announce a White House climate policy coordinator and a “policy-making structure” to go with the new office. The climate czar “will lead efforts here in the U.S. to combat the climate crisis and mobilize action to meet this existential threat,” Biden said.

An EPA proposal to gradually reduce the use of some Bt corn and cotton products is getting pushback from grower groups and has the crop protection industry concerned about losing products they still consider effective.