FTC to devote more attention to right to repair
Less than two weeks after President Biden called for federal agencies to encourage competition, the Federal Trade Commission voted, 5-0, on Wednesday to "ramp up law enforcement against repair restrictions" that limit the rights of consumers and small businesses to fix the products they purchase.
Whitley promoted to FAS administrator
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack named Daniel Whitley to be administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service on Wednesday. He has been the acting chief of the agency, which tracks food and agriculture issues worldwide and promotes U.S. goods.
More pandemic aid on tap for agriculture, says Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced up to $200 million in pandemic relief for loggers and timber haulers on Tuesday and said "there is more to come" for agriculture in the weeks ahead. Aid will include $700 million for biofuel producers and $980 million in dairy supports.
WIC program saw widespread declines during the pandemic
Participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) saw widespread declines during the pandemic, continuing a trend that took hold over the past decade due to significant enrollment hurdles. The declines contrasted with the sharp rise in demand for programs like SNAP and Medicaid. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Essential work, low wages on the farm
Farmworkers earned less than 60 percent of what comparable workers did off the farm last year, says an Economic Policy Institute blog. The wage gap in 2020 was virtually unchanged from 2019.
USDA tops $7 billion in pandemic aid in four months
Green groups sue EPA over BASF herbicide
RFS must consider impact on biodiversity, court tells EPA
In a victory for environmental groups, a federal appeals court told the EPA to consider the effect of the ethanol mandate on endangered animals and plants. The ruling applied to the 2019 RFS but held implications for the agency's development of the RFS for future years.
True cost of food? $2.1 trillion more than the grocery bill.
USDA nominee will seek fair livestock marketing rules
Biden nominee Jennifer Moffitt said she would strengthen USDA rules to give farmers more muscle in dealing with meat processors if she is confirmed as agriculture undersecretary for marketing. "Should I be confirmed, I do commit to supporting trade, to supporting fair marketplace practices," she told senators on Thursday.
Biden to end large-scale old-growth timber sales in Tongass
The Biden administration will end large-scale sales of old-growth timber in the Tongass National Forest on the Alaska panhandle, the world's largest intact temperate rainforest, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday.
House committee approves $43 billion rural broadband bill
On a voice vote, the House Agriculture Committee approved a bill on Wednesday to provide $43 billion over eight years to bring broadband service to hundreds of thousands of families and businesses that lack access now. Chairman David Scott said Democratic leaders were "looking to move this in an expeditious way to the Senate."
Lawmakers look to overrule appellate decision on year-round E15
In a step coinciding with an ethanol conference in Iowa, midwestern lawmakers filed bills in the House and Senate to allow year-round sales of gasoline that is a 15 percent, or higher, blend of corn ethanol. The bills would override a U.S. appeals court ruling on July 2 against summertime sales of E15.
Do conservation subsidies really battle climate change?
The Conservation Reserve Program, which will pay farmers more than $1.8 billion this year to take land out of crop cultivation, has become a linchpin of the Biden administration's climate mitigation program for agriculture. But critics question just how effective the program is in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions generated by agriculture, says FERN's latest story, produced in collaboration with The American Prospect. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
USDA aid for producers who culled pigs and poultry during pandemic
Producers who were forced to destroy pigs, chickens, and turkeys last year due to the pandemic are eligible for federal compensation ranging from 32 cents per chick to $258.57 for a heavyweight hog, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday. The new Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program is the latest in coronavirus relief programs that have paid $24.3 billion to farmers since May 2020.
Meal prices are a factor in surging U.S. inflation rate
Consumer prices rose by a larger-than-expected 5.4 percent over the past year, the biggest 12-month increase in the U.S. inflation rate since August 2008, said the Labor Department on Tuesday. Prices for restaurant meals, carry-out food, food from vending machines, and snacks were up by a strong 4.2 percent as the food service sector reopened after pandemic restrictions.
Pandemic brings highest global hunger rate in 12 years
House chairman proposes $50 billion for rural broadband
Wheat crop withers in northern Plains, Pacific Northwest
USDA is given large role in Biden plan to restore competition
Siding with farm activists, President Biden said "Big Ag is is putting a squeeze on farmers" and signed an executive order telling the USDA to rejuvenate the livestock, seed, fertilizer and retail food markets. The executive order on competition, reaching from the FDA to the Pentagon, called on the FTC to enact right-to-repair rules so farmers can fix their own tractors rather than take them to the dealership when software malfunctions.