agriculture

U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-Arkansas) at a Feb. 16, 2023, meeting of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. (Photo courtesy of Boozman press office)

Members of U.S. Senate agriculture panel spar with Vilsack over USDA spending, response

BY: - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack bristled at complaints from both Democrats and Republicans of unchecked departmental spending and delayed support for farmers during a Thursday U.S. Senate oversight hearing. He also lobbied Congress to provide a farm bill that will balance large-scale productivity with the needs of small and mid-sized producers, a theme the […]

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack uses a whiteboard to demonstrate the challenges faced by small and midsized farmers from land consolidation and declining profits during a talk in San Francisco at a National Farmers Union conference on Monday, March 6, 2023. (Courtesy photo from the Farmers Union)

U.S. agriculture secretary unveils initiatives aimed at small and midsized operations

BY: - March 6, 2023

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday announced new steps the Department of Agriculture is taking to recenter U.S. agriculture and benefit small and midsized operations, including a proposed new “Product of USA” labeling rule and an $89 million expansion of the USDA intermediary lending program.  At the National Farmers Union conference in San Francisco, […]

Reps. Brian Evans, DeAnn Vaught and Les Warren

House committee prepares to hear governor’s education bill next week

BY: - February 21, 2023

Chairman Brian Evans (R-Cabot) has tentatively scheduled a special order of business for the House Education Committee’s Feb. 28 meeting to discuss the LEARNS Act.  Lawmakers filed Senate Bill 294, the governor’s sweeping education bill, on Monday. During Tuesday’s committee meeting, Evans said the timing will depend on the Senate’s actions, but he wanted to […]

Indiana farmer Glenn Morris, 83, harvests corn on October 11, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

State ag officials push for on-time farm bill to fund slew of programs

BY: - February 18, 2023

WASHINGTON – State agriculture officials from across the country sought this month to remind a new crop of lawmakers in Congress of their states’ needs for a robust farm bill to address a host of food issues. Members of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture gathered in Washington for their annual winter meeting […]

Longtime tensions over federal wetlands rule return in U.S. House WOTUS hearing

BY: - February 9, 2023

A U.S. House panel renewed the decades-long fight Wednesday over how standing waters on farmland and other private property should be defined and regulated by federal authorities, with Republicans calling for a pause until the U.S. Supreme Court can provide more clarity. The definition of so-called Waters of the United States, or WOTUS — wetlands […]

Iowa farmland stretches to the horizon in 2019. (Lyle Muller / Investigate Midwest IowaWatch)

USDA projects farm income will fall in 2023 after two robust years

BY: - February 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — After two strong years of growth, U.S. farm income is forecast to drop substantially in 2023 as commodity prices fall and expenses rise, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service reported Tuesday. And with food prices projected to rise into 2023, the nation’s producers will not be reaping the financial benefits. The […]

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris seated at a table.

White House targets economic development in Central America to reduce migration

BY: - February 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House Monday announced nearly $1 billion in investments to address economic causes of migration in several Central American countries, an effort being spurred by Vice President Kamala Harris.   Spread over several years, 10 private companies from Target to Nestlé are pledging $950 million to create economic development in Honduras, El Salvador […]

Chickens in a Sanderson Farms chicken house. (Stephen Ausmus/Agricultural Research Service, USDA)

Trade agreements, access to foreign markets debated in U.S. Senate farm bill hearing

BY: - February 2, 2023

WASHINGTON – In its first meeting of the new congressional session, the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry gathered Wednesday for a hearing on the trade and horticulture titles in the upcoming farm bill.  The legislators prioritized enforcing the nation’s agricultural trade agreements, expanding access to international markets and supporting underserved producers.  “The […]

Indiana farmer Glenn Morris, 83, harvests corn on October 11, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Billions in federal farm payments flow to a select group of producers, report shows

BY: - February 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — The top 10% of recipients of federal farm payments raked in more than 79% of total subsidies over the last 25 years — producing billions of dollars for a relatively small group of U.S. producers, according to a new analysis of federal data from an environmental group. In total, the federal government paid […]

A cotton harvesting tractor plucks up cotton on an Arkansas farm. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Wes Ward to continue as agriculture secretary under Huckabee Sanders

BY: - December 12, 2022

Wes Ward, Arkansas’ current agriculture secretary, will continue in that role in the administration of Gov.-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders, according to a Monday press release. “I look forward to continuing to invest in our strong, dynamic agriculture industry as the secretary of agriculture,” Ward said in the release. “Governor-elect Sanders shares my deep appreciation for […]

A typical pen format for swine in many Iowa animal feeding operations. (File photo/Iowa Watch)

EPA permits cover only a third of concentrated animal feeding operations

BY: - November 22, 2022

The Environmental Protection Agency is charged with protecting important waterways from pollution, but manure from concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, continues to harm waterways — and only one-third of the largest facilities have a federal permit. EPA permits require CAFO operators to tell the agency how much waste the animals will produce and how […]

Iowa farmland stretches to the horizon in 2019. (Lyle Muller / Investigate Midwest IowaWatch)

Chinese farmland ownership has states considering limits on foreign ownership

BY: - November 14, 2022

Amid growing concern about Chinese investment in U.S. agriculture, there has been a renewed push to limit and more closely monitor foreign ownership of farmland across the country. At least eight states considered implementing a new limit on foreign control of agricultural land, and one, Indiana, passed a new law limiting new investment by foreign […]