Articles by Spencer Chase

Key lawmakers involved in transportation issues are working to come up with a compromise that would push back the current end-of-year deadline for implementation of a rail safety system  avoiding a threatened disruption of grain and fertilizer deliveries.

Two agricultural groups released documentation today claiming that uncertainty surrounding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a major factor in projected drops in net farm income.

The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to review the development of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans today amid lots of controversy that the process has veered off its statutory path. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Service

After a record-setting 2014, live and feeder cattle prices have taken a tumble in recent weeks with experts pointing to a rebounding supply and heavier cattle going to market.

Just as U.S. trade negotiators celebrate the completion of one major trade agreement across the Pacific Ocean, talks are scheduled to continue with trading partners across the Atlantic

A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a coalition of consumer, environmental, and animal rights groups that could have made it easier for those groups to get information on livestock operations and their owners.

Republican senators used a congressional hearing Wednesday to press an Army representative for an explanation on why the Corps of Engineers opted to support the Environmental Protection Agency°s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule despite opposition in some internal memos

Chatter surrounding the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) had died down in recent months, but an upcoming House Ag Committee hearing and a journal article critical of the science used in the committee°s report rekindled a few fires among opponents of some of the DGAC

A new law requiring California livestock producers to get a prescription to use antibiotics on farm animals is headed to the governor°s desk after the legislature approved a bill that goes beyond the Obama administration°s Veterinary Feed Directive.

The National Pork Producers Council held its annual Washington fly-in last week and about 130 participants spent lots of time talking about acronyms like COOL, WOTUS, DGAC, and TPP.