Steve Davies

Agri-Pulse’s Lydia Johnson caught up with California Rep. Jim Costa Thursday night to talk about his challenge to Georgia Rep. David Scott for the top Democratic slot on the House Ag Committee. Costa repeatedly stressed that he could be a “strong voice” for the minority.

Farmworker wages rose 3.2% nationally this year from 2023, according to an American Farm Bureau Foundation analysis of USDA’s Farm Labor Survey, which is used to set H-2A minimum wage rates. 

Seeds treated with neonicotinoids do not have to go through their own registration process, a federal judge in California ruled Wednesday.

The chairman and CEO of Deere and Company, which has been the target of tariff threats by President-elect Donald Trump, touted his company’s long history of manufacturing farm equipment in the United States and exporting it to other countries on an earnings call Thursday.

California Rep. Jim Costa is challenging David Scott of Georgia to lead Democrats on the House Ag Committee in the next Congress. Costa says some committee members urged him to consider the move.

Key lawmakers are working on a two-pronged approach to help row crop producers who’ve been hit by the downturn in commodity markets. A lot of work remains to be done, but the goal is to attach some kind of ag relief to a one-year farm bill extension in December.   

The departments of Homeland Security and Labor need to streamline their operation of the H-2A farmworker program both to facilitate electronic processing of applications and more quickly identify workers who are due back wages, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued last week.

House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson is ready to move another extension of the 2018 farm bill, acknowledging to reporters Monday evening that lawmakers are unlikely to consider the measure in the lame duck session. “We’re prepared for an extension,” Thompson said. 

Donald Trump’s cabinet picks are coming fast and furious, but the ag community is still waiting for the president-elect to pick someone to lead USDA. 

Summit Carbon Solutions cleared a hurdle in its quest to build a five-state, 2,500-mile carbon dioxide carbon pipeline with the North Dakota Public Service Commission’s approval Friday of a 332-mile route through the state.