Articles by Spencer Chase

The Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is offering more than $41 million in funds meant to soften the blow of drought in California, Colorado, Oregon and Arizona.

President Joe Biden plans to direct the Agriculture Department to take actions to curb the market power of agribusiness giants, including by enabling farmers to repair their high-tech machinery.

A major Trump administration action to expand the availability of higher blends of biofuels suffered a significant legal setback Friday that could lead to a fresh moratorium on summertime sales of 15% ethanol blends.

The Department of Agriculture plans to review the use of language featured on meat labels that many producers have said does not adequately describe the product’s origin.

Cattlemen’s Heritage Beef Company plans to build a new beef packing plant in western Iowa, adding to the sector’s processing capacity amid calls for greater expansion and diversification of ownership.

The Supreme Court will announce as soon as today whether it will rule on the legality of California’s Proposition 12, which has nationwide implications for sectors of the livestock industry. Prop 12 requires meat sold in California to be produced according to the state’s animal housing standards.

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of small refineries seeking relief from the Renewable Fuel Standard, delivering a major blow to biofuel groups in a long-running legal battle over the governance of the nation’s ethanol and biodiesel policy.

A hearing called to explore beef price transparency issues highlighted some possible changes, but senators also heard a good deal of defense for the current system.

Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee are calling on the Biden administration to provide analysis and other documentation to back up the recent decision to replace the Trump-era rule that narrowed the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.

President Joe Biden has selected Xochitl Torres Small, a former member of the House Ag Committee, as undersecretary of rural development at the Agriculture Department.