Articles by Agri-Pulse staff

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $19.3 million in payments for 125 advanced biofuel producers across the country to support the production and expansion of advanced biofuels from a wide variety of non-food sources, including waste products.

With House GOP leaders floating the possibility of a one-year extension of the current farm bill and a package of disaster legislation, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said he has sent messages to House leadership, trying to convince them to move forward with a new five-year bill.

A new USDA food price forecast released today, the first since the severity of the drought was understood, shows little variation from its late June forecast in part because the extent of crop damage and livestock liquidation is still to be determined.

Congressman Steve King, R-Iowa, met with the House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla. and his Republican colleagues on the Committee late this afternoon to “chart a way forward” with House leaders on the Farm Bill and other legislation aimed at addressing the record drought.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., stressed urgency for the House of Representatives to pass a farm bill because of the “looming deadline and widespread drought conditions” during a teleconference with media today.

Secretary Tom Vilsack today designated 76 additional counties in six states as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat.

Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, led efforts today with Republican members of the committee, in asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for assistance for producers suffering from drought conditions.

Due to the “most severe and extensive drought in at least 25 years,” USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) is providing ongoing data regarding the impacts of the drought on key commodities and food prices.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a petition today by the Chicken Council challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rulemaking on the RFS2.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, told press today that “a decision has not yet been made” on advancing the farm bill to the House floor and gave no indication of when a decision would be made.