Articles by Bill Tomson

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has stunned Capitol Hill - and provided a big boost for farm bill programs - by cutting a major climate funding deal with Sen. Joe Manchin.

The success or failure of the Istanbul agreement to allow Ukrainian grain exports from Odesa ports is in Russia's hands, and the stakes are high as food insecurity continues to rise in the neediest parts of the world, Biden administration officials and lawmakers said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which represents John Deere and other ag equipment firms, is throwing its support behind an effort to pour federal money into rebuilding the U.S. semiconductor industry.

Stevedores at Odesa ports are loading ocean-going vessels with grain as Ukraine prepares to ramp up exports well beyond the comparatively meager amounts it’s been able to ship since Russia invaded five months ago.

Ukrainian ports in Odesa will begin exporting grain despite the recent Russian missile attack that threatened to skuttle a deal to allow trade to resume, according to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Odesa, Ukraine, port officials are making preparations to resume grain exports despite uncertainty over the survival of a deal struck Friday with Turkey, Russia and the United Nations to allow a resumption of trade, according to the firm UkrAgroConsult.

The ink was barely dry on a deal to allow shipments of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports when Russia unleashed a missile attack that has jeopardized the agreement.

A deal struck Friday to allow Ukraine to resume shipping grain through its primary Black Sea ports has been thrown in question after Russian missiles hit a grain silo and other infrastructure at a major port in Odesa, according to U.S., Ukrainian and Turkish officials.

In advance of a congressional hearing today focused on concerns that the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of food safety is dysfunctional, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf announced he is launching a “comprehensive evaluation” of the agency’s food programs.

The U.S. is donating billions of dollars worth of food and other humanitarian assistance to address the global food crisis, but some of the poorest regions in the world still stand on the precipice of famine.