Items Tagged with 'Stephen Vaden'

The Moroccan phosphate giant OCP got a major boost to its effort to reenter the U.S. phosphate market at the U.S. Court of International Trade, but company executives say there may be more challenging legal battles ahead in a campaign that has fertilizer-dependent farmers on their side.

Barges full of Moroccan phosphate that arrive in New Orleans are still moving up the Mississippi River, but that fertilizer isn’t for U.S. farmers. Countervailing duties the U.S. slapped on Moroccan phosphate giant OCP last year make that impossible, so the much-needed farm input is going to Canada instead.

USDA, FDA and EPA say they are moving as quickly as they can to gather data and plug the regulatory gaps holding back potential hemp producers.

Farm bill negotiators are looking to wrap up talks that have become embroiled in a debate over forest management as well as longstanding issues such as eligibility rules for commodity programs.

Responding to questions from Senate Ag Committee Democrats, President Trump's nominee to be USDA's top lawyer denied politics played a role in the reassignment of high-level department employees.

The Senate Agriculture Committee approved the nomination of Stephen Vaden to become USDA’s general counsel, but he could face stiffer Democratic opposition on the Senate floor after the panel's top Democrat raised new concerns about the reassignment of career personnel in the department.

Congressional Republicans this week step up efforts to finalize a sweeping package of tax cuts,  while the Senate Agriculture Committee’s GOP majority attempts to advance another of President Trump’s nominees for the Agriculture Department.