Noah Wicks

On to Plan B. House Republican leaders were unable to win passage Wednesday night of a stopgap spending bill that would have kept the government funded at current levels into March. 

Leaders of the Senate and House Ag committees were featured at the annual Friends of the National Arboretum dinner Tuesday night in Washington – and both were separately expressing some optimism about getting a new farm bill yet this year.

An impasse in discussions over an expiring contract has dockworkers readying for a strike that could leave containers piling up at ports along the East and Gulf Coasts, force cargo ships to sit in harbors until it clears, and scramble routes for agricultural goods at a critical time of year for farmers. 

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

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. 

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. 

Biofuel company Gevo is aiming to bolster its network for low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel feedstocks through the $210 million purchase of an ethanol plant located on a North Dakota carbon capture site.

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.

The House advanced legislation Wednesday that would increase oversight of farmland purchases by investors from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.