Washington DC

After nine years as Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau is planning to step down after his Liberal Party chooses a new leader to replace him.  Trudeau announced his decision following weeks of speculation and weakening support from his own Liberal Party members.  Un...

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture at Virginia Tech enrolled over 1,300 farms representing more than 202,000 acres.  It’s the first year of a landmark project that incentivizes agricultural producers in four states to adopt climate-smart practices.  The project i...

Once again, efforts are underway to remove the Snake River dams.  Officials in the state of Washington as well as the Federal level say the dams must be removed to help salmon migration numbers as well as the overall environment.  Central Washington’s Dan Newhouse said over the past four years of the Biden Administration, the dams have been in the crosshairs, despite the many benefits they bring t

The Bureau of Land Management has finalized its plan to kill barred owls to save the northern spotted owl.  BLM said northern spotted owl populations are rapidly declining, and its two biggest threats are competition from invasive barred owls, as well as fire and drought-related habitat loss.   Although barred owls...

As the 119th Congress gets underway, New Senate Majority Leader John Thune laid out his priorities, including a new Farm Bill.  Thune said he understands rural America, growing up in a small South Dakota town.   “The town of Murdo, population today, roughly around 500 people. We didn’t even have...

Thursday is the National Day of Mourning for Jimmy Carter, our 39th President.  Some may have forgotten that Jimmy Carter's legacy, and literally his roots, were in agriculture.   “We didn’t have any equipment on the farm that was powered by machinery. All the work was done by ...

  On Wednesday, California Representative Doug LaMalfa, Chairman on the Congressional Western Caucus, announced Executive Committee Members for the 119th Congress, which included Oregon’s Cliff Bentz.    "As a Congressman from the state of Oregon, I am committed to addressing the challenges and advancing the opportunities we face every day in the West," Bentz noted.  "As Vice Chairs

The American Relief Act of 2025 provides $31 billion in ad hoc disaster assistance for farmers.  Farmdoc Daily says $20.78 billion will help farmers who suffered natural disasters in 2023 and 2024.  The USDA hasn’t announced how the aid will be distributed.  The ARA also had anothe...

A recent Washington Post report said President-elect Trump’s aides are considering narrowing his tariff plans so they would only apply to limited specific critical imports.  However, Farm Policy News said Trump denied that would happen.   In Tru...

How will Tom Vilsack’s service as the 32nd Ag Secretary be best recalled?   Perhaps his efforts to promote a circular economic model to agriculture and rural America as reflected through the use of a whiteboard diagram.  It’s a message refined not just by multiple presentations over a three-year period, but as the secretary notes, through the feedback and guidance of wife Christie.    “Turns out w