National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition praises USDA for moving forward on rules to protect contract farmers Nearly 100 years after the passage of the Packers and Stockyards Act, a law intended…
Freedom Caucus Wants Nutrition Rules Overturned
…Items not on the list to overturn include the FDA’s near-ban of trans fat, policies intended to limit antibiotic use in agriculture, the Food Safety Modernization Act rules, and new…
Ag Groups React to Proposed GIPSA Rules
The National Turkey Federation is expressing concern over USDA’s final interim rule and two proposed regulations possibly upending contract relationships in place between turkey growers and processors. The USDA wants…
Christmas Tree Farms Face Balancing Act
It may seem counterintuitive for a choose-and-cut Christmas tree farm to wish for rain during its busiest time of year, but for Larry and Geri Hyder, it comes down to…
AFBF Pres. Duvall Comments on Nomination of Ryan Zinke to Interior
…that can be ranched in direct conflict with the multiple-use mandate required by law. The Fish and Wildlife Service has continued to enforce an outmoded and failing Endangered Species Act,…
White House Issues ‘Midnight’ GIPSA Rule
…the “interim final” rule broadens the scope of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) of 1921 related to the use of “unfair, unjustly discriminatory or deceptive practices” and “undue or…
Monsanto Shareholders Approve Merger with Bayer
…required regulatory approvals. Bayer, with the support of Monsanto, has now submitted a number of filings, including the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino Act filing. Closing is expected by the end of 2017….
EPA to Reduce Diesel Emission
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a total of $6,329,500 in Diesel Emission Reduction Act funds to public and private partners in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and American Samoa….
Water Bill with Drought Relief on President’s Desk
The FY17 Water Resources Development Act is now on the President’s desk, after passing both the House and the Senate late last week. The water bill includes drought relief legislation…
EPA Nominee Opposes RFS, WOTUS
…calling the RFS a “flawed program.” Pruitt has also filed legal challenges against the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank law, under which the Administration has implemented new regulations on…
USDA Boosts Healthy Food Access
…the same time, the definition of variety has been expanded to make it easier for stores to meet the new requirements mandated by the Agricultural Act of 2014, and the…
Continuing Resolution Includes FSA Loan Funding
…Further Continuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act, which covers 11 of the 12 annual appropriations bills, will maintain government operations at a rate of $1.07 trillion through April 28th, 2017….
Senate to Consider WRDA Conference Report
The U.S. Senate Majority Leader intends to take up the Water Resources Development Act conference report during the lame-duck session. Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell proclaimed in a floor speech Tuesday…
Improving Water Quality in High-Priority Watersheds
…Water Act list of impaired water-bodies due to agricultural impacts. Since 2012, conservation systems have been placed on almost 600,000 acres in priority watersheds through NWQI, supported by approximately $125…