Donald Trump
Will Mike Conaway out-do Trump on work requirements for food stamps?
Along with the much-criticized Harvest Box of nonperishable food for low-income Americans, President Trump proposed in his budget more stringent limits on food stamps for people who work less than 20 hours a week. House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway may go beyond Trump in his proposals to restrict eligibility and to channel millions of food-stamp recipients into workfare and job-training programs.
After two meetings, a pause in the White House focus on biofuels
The White House is taking a break from biofuels policy, at least temporarily, after two meetings with President Trump at the table failed to find consensus between the oil and ethanol industries. The only agreement, according to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was part of both meetings, "was to look at economic studies" about the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard and possible changes.
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.
Former EPA employees slam Trump budget
The Environmental Protection Network, a group of former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, released a report slamming President Trump’s 2019 budget. The group says that if the budget is approved by Congress, its effects on the EPA “would be more punishing than for any other federal agency.”
USDA wants ideas about how to better enforce 90-day limit on food stamps
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has long spoken out against the “permanent lifestyle” of able-bodied adults who receive food stamps. Now the USDA is asking how it can more stringently enforce its 90-day limit on benefits to those who work fewer than 20 hours a week.
Trump proposes 33-percent cut in crop insurance
Five weeks after he told the largest U.S. farm group that he supports "a [farm] bill that includes crop insurance," President Trump asked Congress to slash the taxpayer-subsidized program by a third. The $26-billion cut over a decade was part of a fiscal 2019 budget package that called for the eradication of USDA's first green-payment program and for denial of crop subsidies and land stewardship payments to people with more than $500,000 in adjusted gross income.
Trump infrastructure outline tabs $50 billion for rural projects
As part of a mammoth package envisioned by the Trump administration, the nation's governors would be given $70 billion in block grants to help finance rural projects such as expansion of broadband service, said two senior White House officials. They said the block grant funding would be available on a more rapid basis than the rest of the $200 billion in federal funding that would be provided for improvements nationwide for all types of public works.
Coastal states sue EPA over WOTUS delay
Ten states on the East and West Coasts sued the EPA for its decision to delay until 2020 a clean water rule issued during the Obama era, saying the suspension was hurried into effect "with inadequate public notice, insufficient record support and outside their statutory authority." The original rule was a prominent part of President Trump's campaign for regulatory relief.
Access to safe and healthy food is in peril, says food movement group
The Trump administration is imperiling access to safe and healthy food, throttling organic farmers and siding with meatpackers on livestock sales regulation, said the Food Policy Action Education Fund in a "State of the Plate" report. "This administration’s regulatory rollbacks, political appointments, and executive orders have affected everyone within our food system–from workers to producers to consumers," said Monica Mills, head of the group.
His eye on USDA office, Northey hears electoral clock ticking in Iowa
President Trump's nominee to run USDA's farm subsidy and land stewardship programs has waited for three months for a Senate vote, and acknowledges he faces a decision: To file for a fourth term as Iowa state agriculture secretary in this year's elections or wait for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to end his opposition to a vote on him. "I believe there is still hope right now," said nominee Bill Northey told Successful Farming.
Rural projects would get 25 percent of Trump infrastructure funding
A quarter of all the funding in President Trump's forthcoming infrastructure plan would be earmarked for rural America, according to a draft document leaked to Axios. Projects could range from broadband and highways to the electric grid and water lines.
There’s a lot of work to do at USDA during a shutdown
An estimated three-fourths of USDA employees would be furloughed in a federal shutdown, but officials said major activities will continue, such as food stamps, meat inspection and support for the NAFTA negotiations scheduled to resume on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue sent a series of 12 tweets, most of them illustrated with topical photos, that formed a comprehensive list of ongoing activities.
Trump selects a congressional lobbyist for a USDA short of executives
Nearly a year after taking office, President Trump tabbed farm group official Ken Barbic to be USDA's congressional liaison, rewarding Western growers who backed his campaign. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he was "very excited by the nomination" while noting that two nominees for top-tier posts at USDA are bottled up in the Senate.
In a change of tone, Trump backs crop insurance program
Speaking to a friendly farm crowd, President Trump, who proposed a 36 percent cut in long-term funding for crop insurance last May, said he will work with Congress for a 2018 farm bill “that delivers for all of you and I support a bill that includes crop insurance.” Trump responded to the standing ovation for crop insurance by adding, "I guess you like it."
A Farm Bureau encore for Trump? ‘I’ll be back.’
As President Trump observed, "a hundred is so much cooler," so he feels the attraction of speaking to the largest U.S. farm group on its Centennial next year, in New Orleans. "Next year, I'll come back. All right? We'll come back."
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.
Rural internet to be high priority for Trump administration
President Trump will express support during a speech to the largest U.S. farm group today for a dramatic expansion of high-speed internet service in rural America. The strategy will be a springboard for economic growth for a segment of the population dogged by lower wages and higher poverty rates than the rest of the nation, said a White House adviser. The president also is expected to call for greater use of federal forests and fewer hurdles to agricultural biotechnology, two areas that may be lightning rods for controversy.