The Hill

Thirteen of the largest U.S. companies "are joining President Obama" to push "a slew of policies meant to curb the effects of climate change," said The Hill newspaper.

Two potential aspirants for the Republican nomination for president, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz spoke against an ethanol mandate at the Iowa Ag Summit, according to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The Senate is expected "in the coming days to restore more than 50 tax breaks, all of which expired at the end of 2013, just through the end of this year," including the Section 179 business expensing provision, says The Hill newspaper.

Congress could act early in 2015 on legislation to pre-empt state and local requirements for labels on food made with genetically modified organisms, said Kansas Rep Mike Pompeo, sponsor of a bill to keep labeling voluntary.

The House could vote as early as Wednesday on a one-year retroactive renewal of tax breaks that expired at the start of this year, says Politico. The four dozen incentives include the $1 a gallon biodiesel tax credit, a wind power credit and the $500,000 business deduction for new equipment.

Ted Yoho, the only Florida Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, got two votes for House speaker on the opening day of the 114th session of Congress. Yoho voted for himself and also got the support of Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

During negotiations over a long-term spending bill, "(c)hild nutrition standards backed by First Lady Michelle Obama were in play," says Politico.

The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday on labeling of GMO foods. The session, "Examining FDA's role in the regulation of genetically modified food ingredients," is expected to provide a...

Representatives passed, 378-46, and sent to the Senate a retroactive revival of five dozen tax breaks that expired on Jan 1, including a handful that apply to the agriculture sector.

The House Rules Committee cleared for a floor vote a bill to revive five dozen tax incentives that expired at the start of this year. The House is scheduled to vote today.

Book-ending the Daily Yonder's data on Republicans winning a larger share of the rural vote in the mid-term election, political analyst Matt Barron says Democrats face problems ranging from poor recruitment of candidates...

Kansas Sen Pat Roberts, during a campaign stop at a livestock auction barn, told listeners, “When we get a Republican majority, I’ll be chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and we are gonna put the livestock producer first."

House Agriculture Committee member Rodney Davis of Illinois, a critic of new school lunch rules, looks like a surer bet for a second term from central Illinois.

With 2014 nearly two-thirds over, EPA sent its proposed biofuels mandate for this year to the White House for review, said The Hill newspaper, quoting an EPA official as saying the agency's goal "is to put the RFS (Renewable Fuels Standard) program on a path that supports continued growth in renewable fuels over time."

Democrat Alison Grimes faulted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for missing many Agriculture Committee hearings and for not being one of the negotiators who wrote the 2014 farm law, says the Associated Press.

Kansas Rep Mike Pompeo will sponsor a bill backed by foodmakers to pre-empt state labeling law on genetically modified food, Politico says.