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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, March 09, 2025
The White House formally asked Congress on Monday for $21 billion in disaster aid for farmers who have lost crops and livestock due to hurricanes, drought and wildfires over the past two years.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warned lawmakers Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s decision upholding California’s Proposition 12 could lead to “chaos,” if other states follow suit in imposing their own standards for food products.
Farmers who bought crop insurance in 2022 will receive dramatically less in disaster aid than they have in recent years because of a “progressive factoring methodology” USDA made to the Emergency Relief Program for last year’s losses, according to an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Grapes cultivated for wine and forage for livestock will now qualify for the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase Two after a modification made by the USDA.
USDA plans to send Emergency Relief Program and Emergency Livestock Relief Program pre-filled applications directly to eligible producers in early summer for those with qualifying disaster losses for the 2022 calendar year.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wants the next farm bill to include reforms for disaster relief and put more focus on farmers who haven’t done as well financially as larger producers have in recent years.
Congressional negotiators are nearing agreement on a massive year-end bill that’s expected to include billions in agricultural disaster aid as well as a compromise version of the Growing Climate Solutions Act and special aid to rice growers.
An independent commission issues a report this week that's expected to make far-reaching recommendations for fixing widely perceived weaknesses in the Food and Drug Administration’s human foods programs.
Ag groups are debating once again the idea of a permanent disaster aid program, but congressional budget rules and concerns about the crop insurance system are likely to make it as difficult as ever for lawmakers to agree on a proposal.
The federal government’s Drought Resilience Interagency Working Group is helping coordinate the distribution of $13 billion provided by the infrastructure bill as drought continues to hammer western communities.
