Senate Agriculture Committee
Trump turns up the heat on work requirements in the farm bill
President Trump’s preference for work requirements in social welfare programs is expected to come up today in a meeting to discuss the farm bill with the chairmen of the House and Senate Agricultural committees.
Conaway’s ‘springboard out of poverty’ is a trap door, say anti-hunger groups
House Republicans said on Thursday that they would expand work requirements to cover 6 million SNAP recipients and were willing to go it alone to pass the first openly partisan farm bill in living memory.
The cattle farmer who became the newest U.S. senator
The Senate is in recess so it will be another week before cattle farmer Cindy Hyde-Smith, a veteran of state politics, formally succeeds Thad Cochran as U.S. senator from Mississippi. She already has a Republican challenger in the November special election to serve the final two years of Cochran's term, and had a get-acquainted meeting with top White House officials last week.
Roberts: Pass a bipartisan farm bill before summer or risk extension of 2014 law
The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee have ruled out major changes in the food stamp program, effectively rejecting big cuts to the program before House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway can write them into his committee’s version of the farm bill. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Roberts aims for farm bill mark-up in April
The Senate Agriculture Committee will draft its version of the 2018 farm bill in April if chairman Pat Roberts’ plans hold up. Roberts discussed the timeline for the bill, but not its contents, at a child nutrition luncheon.
A longtime power in farming and funding, Cochran will leave Senate on April 1
Seven-term Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a leading proponent of Southern crops in the Agriculture Committee, announced he will resign, effective April 1, due to poor health. His departure will punctuate efforts to draft the 2018 farm bill in the coming weeks and could diminish the South's influence over the legislation.
Policy expert: 50 percent chance Congress extends 2014 farm law
Congress could just as easily extend the 2014 farm law, with add-ons to fix cotton and dairy subsidies, as pass a new farm bill this year, said Texas A&M economist James Richardson, a farm policy expert.
Pawlenty won’t run against Senate Ag panelist Smith
Former two-term Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he will not run for the Senate this year, “dashing Republican hopes that he would mount a strong bid for Al Franken’s old seat,” said the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Fischer and Smith named to Senate Agriculture Committee
With the 2018 farm bill on the horizon, Senate leaders have re-jiggered membership of the Senate Agriculture Committee, adding Republican Deb Fischer of Nebraska and newly appointed Democrat Tina Smith of Minnesota to the panel.
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.
USDA’s top lawyer says politics not a part of reassigning senior officers
Stephen Vaden, the former Trump transition official now serving as the USDA’s interim chief lawyer, says politics played no part in the reassignment of 13 of the department’s top-rank and highest-paid civil servants since the new administration took office.
U.S. gives short shrift to agro-defense and the risk of zoonotic diseases
The average American consumes more than a half-pound of meat each day, yet the country devotes limited thought or funding to protecting its livestock from diseases that could disrupt production or infect humans, said former Sen. Joe Lieberman during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.
Senate ag panel approves controversial nominee as USDA’s top lawyer
The Senate Agriculture Committee cleared for a floor vote the nomination of Stephen Vaden to become USDA's chief lawyer with the senior Democrat on the panel, Debbie Stabenow, expressing reservations over Vaden's past legal work and the personnel practices he has implemented in USDA's legal shop. A member of the administration's "beach head" team, Vaden effectively is the interim leader of the office following his appointment as principal deputy general counsel.
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.
Fix ARC problems by using crop insurance data, say Farm Belt senators
Two members of the Senate Agriculture Committee filed a bill to require the USDA to use crop insurance data as its first choice in deciding whether farmers will get an Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) subsidy. Most corn, soybean and wheat growers are enrolled in the insurance-like ARC program but there are recurring complaints of wide variation in payment rates among adjoining counties.
Stabenow and Ernst propose bigger regional conservation program
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow, and Iowa Republican Joni Ernst have proposed a tripling of funding for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program as part of legislation that would give the program more flexibility.
Low commodity prices spur Senate interest in idling cropland
Senators from the Plains and Upper Midwest pressed for expansion of the Conservation Reserve Program during a friendly confirmation hearing for Bill Northey, the USDA nominee who would run the program as agriculture undersecretary.
Senate confirms Censky and McKinney as senior USDA executives
Senate Republicans renew bid to shift climate funds
Pointing to a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Republican staffers on the Senate Agriculture Committee proposed on Wednesday shifting more than $13 billion earmarked separately for climate mitigation into USDA land stewardship programs. Under Congress’ arcane budget rules, the transfer would result in a long-term increase of $1.8 billion a year for stewardship, they said, “subject only to congressional reauthorization.”