Agri-Pulse staff

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says he?ll keep pushing for Senate passage of an $84 billion tax cut bill, which failed to clear a procedural hurdle Thursday amid Republican opposition.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says he’ll keep pushing for Senate passage of an $84 billion tax cut bill, which failed to clear a procedural hurdle Thursday amid Republican opposition.

A bipartisan group of 177 members of the U.S. House of Representatives today asked the Obama administration to use the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) talks with the European Union (EU) to address export barriers, specifically for food names.

Almost three dozen advanced biofuel companies, led by the Advanced Ethanol Council and Biotechnology Industry Organization, sent a letter to President Barack Obama to express the industry’s concern about the proposed rule for the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Tighter profit margins for crop producers were a drag on farm income in the Federal Reserve Bank's Tenth District during the first quarter of 2014, says the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's quarterly Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions.

According to the latest survey on the organic industry from the Organic Trade Association (OTA), sales of organic products in the United States had their fastest growth rate in five years. Sales increased to $35.1 billion in 2013, up 11.5 percent from the previous year’s $31.5 billion.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the comment period for its proposed changes to the agricultural Worker Protection Standard, which dictates pesticide handling safety standards. EPA first announced changes to the standards in February.

While the northern half of the U.S. West saw a mix of rain and snow from April storms, the drought-plagued southern half, including California, got little relief, USDA’s latest assessment shows.

A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study shows the application of sewage sludge as fertilizer on farm fields can leave traces of prescription drugs and household chemicals long after the biosolid has been applied to the soil.