USDA
Stricter limit on SNAP benefits faces vote in House committee
House Republicans proposed broader application of a 90-day limit on food stamps for able-bodied adults as part of the annual USDA-FDA funding bill on Wednesday. The proposal mirrors the GOP position in debt ceiling negotiations with President Biden.
White House boosts spending on rural electrification
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced more than $11 billion in grants and loan opportunities to expand rural electrification, which it said was the single largest investment in the sector since President Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.
Add biochar to USDA land stewardship practices, suggests carbon group
The new farm bill should allow direct incentive payments by USDA to farmers who use surplus crop and forestry residues for biochar projects rather than burning them and releasing greenhouse gases, said the Carbon Business Council on Tuesday. The council, speaking for carbon management companies, also recommended that Congress create a permitting process for carbon storage on national forest land.
USDA aid to financially distressed borrowers tops $1 billion
The Agriculture Department announced an additional $130 million in assistance to financially distressed borrowers on Monday, boosting total farm loan relief for producers to approximately $1.1 billion since last fall. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Congress wanted aid delivered quickly "and that is what we are delivering to help producers across the country stay on their land."
USDA launches $3.1 billion climate-smart initiative
Sixteen months after Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a project to help farmers develop markets for sustainably produced commodities, the USDA formally put the initiative into operation on Thursday. Some $3.1 billion — three times more than originally planned — would be spent on 141 pilot projects to offer incentives that encourage producers to adopt climate-mitigating practices on working lands. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Budget fight complicates drafting of farm bill
Lawmakers have spent a year in listening sessions and congressional hearings for the 2023 farm bill but are still weeks away from drafting the legislation, said leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees. They are waiting for new budget estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, expected in mid-May, and for a decision on raising the federal debt limit.
Dwindling funds imperil the ‘slow magic’ of agri-food research
In the early days of USDA, half of the department's budget was directed to agricultural research and development. Nowadays, its share is 1.8 percent and the nation trails competitors that include China, said economist Philip Pardey of the University of Minnesota in calling for a hefty increase in funding.
House spending leader says USDA’s wings should be clipped
The Biden administration cannot be trusted to spend tax dollars prudently, and Congress ought to block the USDA’s access to the $30 billion reserve fund it used to launch a climate mitigation initiative, said the chair of a House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday. The Republican-controlled Congress restricted Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s access to the fund for five years during the Obama administration.
USDA proposal would make it easier for schools to offer universal free meals
An additional 20,000 schools in poor neighborhoods would have the option of serving breakfast and lunch for free to all of their students under a proposal by the USDA, a step toward a potential expansion of universal free meals by more than 50 percent. “This is an investment in our youngsters,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday.
Senator warns of farm-size conflict in farm bill negotiations
At the same time that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called for more attention to small and midsize farmers, who see limited revenue from agriculture, a key Southern senator cautioned on Thursday against “a small farm versus big farm conflict” in writing the new farm bill. Large-scale operators collect the lion’s share of U.S. farm subsidies at present because payments are tied to production volume.
USDA clears two states to replace stolen SNAP benefits
USDA climate funding targeted in debt-limit fight
The House Freedom Caucus called for the elimination of "billions (of dollars) of wasteful climate spending," — a category that would include $20 billion given to USDA conservation programs — as part of an agreement to raise the federal debt limit.
USDA spending falls as White House envisions transformational farm bill
Agriculture Department spending would fall 14 percent in the new fiscal year, due almost entirely to reduced SNAP benefits with the end of the pandemic, said the White House on Thursday. It proposed relatively modest initiatives at the USDA for fiscal 2024, such as offering free school meals to more poor children, while seeing golden potential in the new farm bill for broad-scale change.
USDA’s Equity Commission calls for department-wide reform
From its top officers down to its local offices, the Agriculture Department needs to institutionalize equity in its programs and its operations, said an administration-appointed commission on Tuesday after a year-long study of the USDA. Sometimes called "the last plantation" because of racial bias in its operations, the USDA has paid $3 billion since 1999 to resolve lawsuits by Black, Native American and Hispanic farmers.
Protect climate funds in farm bill, say advocates
Some 644 environmental, farm, religious, wildlife and recreation groups urged the leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees on Monday to protect the $20 billion earmarked last summer for climate-smart agriculture from farm-bill raids. "This is the largest investment in agriculture conservation and rural communities in decades and farmers, ranchers and foresters across the country are depending on these resources," said the groups in a letter.
USDA issues grants to expand local meat processing capacity
Five independent processors will receive grants totaling $59 million to expand local meat processing capacity, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday. The grants are part of a $1 billion initiative by the administration to strengthen the food supply chain and introduce more competition into the meat processing sector.
USDA proposes online shopping for WIC recipients
Four years after it launched a test of online grocery shopping for SNAP recipients — which rapidly expanded during the pandemic — the Agriculture Department proposed the same shopping flexibility for households enrolled in the WIC program. "We agree with WIC participants and stakeholders — online grocery shopping and ordering is essential for busy Americans," said Agriculture deputy undersecretary Stacy Dean, who oversees WIC and other public nutrition programs.
Biggest U.S. farms get bigger
The largest farms — with sales of $1 million or more — operate nearly 26 percent of U.S. farmland, six percentage points more than they did a decade ago, even as the number of farms has changed little, said the USDA. In its annual Farms and Land in Farms report, the USDA estimated there were 2.003 million farms in the nation in 2022, a decline of 0.5 percentage points from 2012.