Chuck Grassley
Payment limits? Ask the chairman, says Grassley.
Congress can "restore common-sense rules and fiscal integrity" to the farm program by setting a $125,000-per-person limit on farm subsidies, said seven farm advocacy groups in advance of the Senate Agriculture Committee vote today on its farm bill. Rather than give his own opinion, the sponsor of the $125,000 limit told reporters to ask chairman Pat Roberts about the chances it will become part of the bill.
Grassley’s farm bill challenge: Limit subsidies to actual farmers
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wants to tighten down access to U.S. farm subsidies, a lightning-rod issue as Congress tries to update ag and public nutrition programs this year. "Why can't we require farmers who collect huge sums of money from the government to actually work on the farm?" said Grassley on Monday, arguing for a "hard" cap of $125,000 per person in annual payments and restricting payments to farmers, their spouses and one manager per farm, regardless of size.
Less leverage for farm payment reform, says Grassley
The USDA has a "glaring loophole" in its farm subsidy rules that allows people to collect up to $125,000 a year in subsidies for providing farm management, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is trying to get a tougher set of rules into law.
Grassley urges House to cap farm subsidies, says he expects Senate to agree
The House farm bill opens the door to unlimited subsidies, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on Tuesday, urging adoption of a $125,000 per person limit available only to actual farmers. Grassley told reporters that he will seek the same limit in the Senate version of the farm bill.
At White House meeting, biofuels bloc promotes E15 as RFS solution
President Trump sat down with oil and ethanol leaders for the second time this week without resolving a battle over the federal mandate to mix biofuels into gasoline and diesel fuel. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley later said that “an emerging solution appears to be year-round E15.”
Perdue says he stands with the RFS; Grassley says some schooling is needed
A farm convention audience cheered Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as he declared his unequivocal support for biofuels. His speech came just a day after he participated in a White House discussion of possible revisions to the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Senators question post-death subsidy payments
Two farm-state senators want the USDA to explain why it allows crop subsidy payments to the estates of deceased farmers for two years or more. “You aren’t very actively engaged if you are buried,” remarked Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, citing a USDA eligibility rule.
Iowans, taking on Ted Cruz, push for USDA nominee Northey
The Iowa Republican Party pointedly told Texas Sen. Ted Cruz that he endangers his chances of winning the Iowa presidential caucuses in the future if he persists in blocking a Senate vote on Bill Northey to become the No. 3 Agriculture Department official. Meanwhile, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said he will circulate a letter calling on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to force a vote on Northey, currently Iowa's elected state agriculture secretary.
Midwestern senators try to force vote on Northey for USDA post
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz thwarted an attempt by midwestern senators for an immediate vote on the nomination of Bill Northey of Iowa to be the No. 3 official at the USDA, in charge of farm support and land stewardship programs.
Biofuels mandate doesn’t harm refiners, says Grassley, so stop ‘misleading rhetoric’
A Philadelphia oil refinery went bankrupt due to management decisions that backfired rather than the federal biofuels mandate, which requires refiners to blend ethanol and biodiesel into the gasoline and diesel supply, says a memo written by energy policy staffers working for Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a bulldog defender of corn ethanol. The bankruptcy filing has been cited as a reason for changing the Renewable Fuel Standard, or biofuels mandate.
Farm bill reform would end ‘dishonest’ subsidies, says midwestern senator
On the same day that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue released a 42-point list of farm bill principles, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said the 2018 bill should end the “dishonest” practice of crop subsidy payments to non-farmers.
Tax boon for co-op customers must change, says Grassley
The first major agricultural flaw found in the new tax law has “got to be changed,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. Grain companies are very concerned that Section 199A of the new law “would put them out of business if we don’t do something,” he said.
Iowa senators see deadlock over Northey and ethanol
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is sitting on the nomination of Bill Northey for USDA undersecretary in hopes of winning destructive changes in U.S. ethanol policy, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley during a telephone news conference.
NAFTA is a major test for Trump in rural America, says farm-state senator
President Trump said he intends to win "a better deal for our country and our farmers and our manufacturers" in negotiations for the new NAFTA, and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says he'll hold him to it. NAFTA "will be a major test of the president's impact on rural America going forward," said Grassley, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and chair of the Judiciary Committee.
With Hatch retiring, will Grassley take the Finance Committee gavel?
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who lists his occupation as farmer, could make a return appearance as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee with the retirement of the current chairman, Orrin Hatch of Utah, says Roll Call.
Biofuels compromise continues to elude senators
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz “just keeps moving the goalpost and moving the goalpost,” said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst after an inconclusive meeting between Senate and White House staff workers on the Renewable Fuel Standard, reported DTN/Progressive Farmer.
An RFS compromise? No, says Grassley. Maybe, says Perdue.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said that he doubts there is room for a compromise with oil-state senators over the Renewable Fuel Standard, and that there had been no discussion among senators about one.
Senate confirms Smith to Farm Credit board
The Senate has confirmed Glen Smith to serve on the Farm Credit Administration board, but two other Trump nominees for agricultural posts are being blocked.
Oldest U.S. senator, Grassley of Iowa, is hospitalized with infection
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the oldest serving senator, was in a Washington hospital for treatment of an infection, said his office on Tuesday. Grassley, 90, is a bulldog advocate of corn ethanol and a longtime proponent of stricter limits on farm subsidy payments.