Senate Agriculture Committee
Loeffler leaves Senate agriculture subcommittee amid controversy
Sen. Kelly Loeffler received stock and other awards worth more than $9 million from her former employer just before she was appointed to the Senate in January. To quash criticism of the package, the Georgia Republican stepped down from the Senate agriculture subcommittee that oversees the futures markets.
South maintains clout on Ag Committee with new member
Republican Sen. Kelly Leoffler, who took office on Monday, will replace fellow Georgian David Perdue on the Senate Agriculture Committee in a step that will assure a strong Southern bloc on the panel. The committee oversees the farm program, although its top issue this year may be re-authorization of child nutrition programs, headlined by WIC and school lunch, that cost $30 billion a year.
Trump ‘chose oil companies over family farmers,’ says senator
The Trump administration is siding with Big Oil despite announcing a plan to increase ethanol consumption, farm state senators told the No. 2 USDA official on Thursday. “That’s a president that has chosen oil companies over family farmers,” said one of the critics, Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
USDA expects to enroll ‘a large number of acres’ in Conservation Reserve
The USDA will hold its first “general” signup for the land-idling Conservation Reserve Program under the 2018 farm bill in early December, and “we expect to enroll a large number of acres,” said Deputy Agriculture Secretary Steve Censky on Thursday.
Impeachment inquiry casts shadow on ‘new NAFTA’
President Trump is creating instability in the farm sector with his periodic threats to withdraw from NAFTA, said the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. Also at an Agriculture hearing on Wednesday, farm groups called for speedy passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has been put in doubt by the opening of an impeachment inquiry in the House.
Bright hopes, uncertain pace for industrial hemp
The 2018 farm bill legalized the production of industrial hemp and farmers are clearly interested in a potential new cash crop, but many obstacles must be overcome before the industry can take root, said lawmakers and federal regulators on Thursday.
USDA expected agency relocation would drive away employees
With the USDA on the cusp of moving two research agencies to Kansas City, a senior official said on Thursday that massive staff turnover — so far, 250 employees have declined to leave Washington — is par for the course for cross-country relocations. Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow offered a different take: “This is not a relocation. It’s a demolition.”
Time for a deal with China, say farm-state senators
Half a dozen farm-state senators urged Trump trade officials on Thursday to speedily resolve the Sino-U.S. trade war that is compounding hard times on the farm. Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts brushed aside assurances of a rosy future when trade deals are completed. “Some farmers aren’t going to make it,” he said.
Looking for a presidential candidate? Try Senate Ag
According to Capitol Hill lore, the surest way to get a senator's attention is to shout, "Mr. President!" And the best spot to shout it this year would be a meeting of the Senate Agriculture Committee, where three of its 20 members, Democrats Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar, are running for president.
Roberts sees route for reauthorizing child nutrition this year
After warning against saddling small schools with big-city regulations, Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts said on Wednesday that Congress could act swiftly on the overdue renewal of child nutrition programs. The programs, headlined by school lunch and WIC, cost $30 billion a year.
Senators mull limits on ‘national security’ tariffs
Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley has lots of company in considering limits on the president’s power to impose tariffs on national security grounds. In the coming weeks, Grassley expects to introduce a bipartisan bill to reform these so-called Section 232 tariffs.
Stabenow calls for USDA to withdraw SNAP proposal
Questioned for the second day in a row on Capitol Hill, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he has the authority to tighten food stamp rules for able-bodied adults even if lawmakers don’t like it. Senate Democrats pushed back, urging Perdue on Thursday to withdraw the proposal.
Back to square one for USDA nominees
Three nominations for senior USDA posts overseeing research, food safety, and civil rights died with the 115th Congress on Wednesday, and the path forward for those nominations in the two-year session that opened on Thursday is unclear.
Republican Hyde-Smith wins in final Senate race of the year
Trump and McConnell discuss farm bill as part of lame duck agenda
While some analysts expressed skepticism about passage of the farm bill, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell discussed the bill among must-do legislation on Thursday for action in the brief congressional post-election session.
‘Not everyone will get everything they want’ in farm bill
Negotiators “are nearing agreement on many of the issues” in the farm bill, said Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts on Tuesday, although one committee member said he doubted there will be an agreement this year.
Trump campaigning for farm-state Republicans in tight races
Farm bill negotiators link arms in pledge of cooperation
The "big four" negotiators set a new target of mid-November to wrap up work on the 2018 farm bill during a half-hour meeting on Thursday, quashing partisan squabbling. In a physical show of solidarity, the Senate and House negotiators linked arms and told reporters they were making a determined effort on the $87 billion a year legislation.