Rural

Undersecretary Richard Fordyce said USDA isn’t in a hiring freeze, as lawmakers pressed him on staffing reductions at FSA and NRCS during a House Ag Committee hearing.

On the first day of the Great American State Fair Thursday, President Donald Trump will host a White House Rose Garden dinner honoring farmers, ranchers, cattlemen and growers from across the country and featuring appearances by top administration officials and lawmakers. 

Discussion on the potential for Senate passage of an E15 bill swirled on Capitol Hill Tuesday after the release of a draft farm bill that doesn’t include the pro-ethanol measure. A bill to expedite Emergency Conservation Program payments to producers whose land has been damaged by wildfires cleared the House Tuesday with a 386-19 vote. It now heads to the president’s desk for his signature.

After about a decade of research that's still ongoing, demand from the dairy and food service industries is seen fueling big growth in U.S. plantings of premium soybeans known as high oleic. 

The Government Accountability Office released a report calling for USDA and EPA to improve how they support rural communities seeking water‑infrastructure assistance.

Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., is optimistic on the prospects for E15 and additional farmer aid to pass Congress. 

The Senate Agriculture Committee's five-year "farm bill 2.0" would bolster key farm and rural development initiatives while sidestepping the most controversial food and ag issues of the day. 

 As policy watchers await a draft farm bill from the Senate Agriculture Committee, lawmakers also need to focus on passing year-round E15, weighing in on California’s Proposition 12, and getting more economic aid into the hands of crop growers, American Farm Bureau Federation’s John Newton says. The Trump administration’s record-high biofuel-blending rules are a clear economic win for rural America, says Clean Fuels Alliance America CEO Donnell Rehagen.

A new soybean crushing plant in Illinois will help reduce U.S. farmers' reliance on Chinese demand, attendees at Incobrasa's ribbon-cutting ceremony said on Monday. 

U.S. talks to end the war with Iran advanced over the weekend even as uncertainty hung over the status of trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Even in the best-case scenario for resuming key cargoes through the Strait of Hormuz, it will take time for disrupted energy and fertilizer markets to recover, says Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute.