Chuck Grassley

More capacity, not more regulation, may be the direction Ag lawmakers take in dealing with cattle market concentration and wildly divergent cattle and beef prices. Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow said dramatic differences of opinion were expected at last week’s hearing on the cause of high beef prices for major packers and low prices to small producers. But ...

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley joined fellow Republican Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, in introducing legislation on meatpacking. The bill, the Meat Packing Special Investigator Act, would address the "anti-competitive" practices in the meat and poultry industries that threaten the nation’s food supply and national security. The ...

President Biden’s nominee for Treasury’s tax policy chief got asked this week about the Administration’s proposal to end the stepped-up basis on family farms and replace it with a capital gains transfer tax. “In terms of the treatment of family farms and businesses, as I understand it, reading the proposal, it would delay any tax due for any family farms and businesses until it was no longer owned

Ag Senators met privately this week with USDA head Tom Vilsack to discuss legislative priorities. Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley says the meeting was “off the record”, and he couldn’t detail what others said, but he mentioned his priorities. "I brough ...

Senate Republicans are pressing for an ‘infrastructure-only’ bill in a bid to vastly downsize the president’s more than $2 trillion package that they say goes beyond traditional infrastructure. Republicans said President Biden could score a ‘win,’ if his infrastructure, plan included just roads, bridges, waterways, ports and broadband, funded with user fees. “We’re going to have to c ... Read Mor

On Wednesday, President Biden is scheduled to travel to Pittsburgh to pitch the first part of his $3 trillion effort fix the nation’s roads, bridges, and water systems, many, key for agriculture. Biden’s ambitious push on the heels of his nearly $2 trillion virus relief package, already faces stiff headwinds from Republicans and some Democrats over its size and tax hikes needed to fund it. Yet t

arlier this week, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley introduced legislation to address transparency in the cattle market. But not everyone in the industry likes the proposal. Supporters of the legislation say the bipartisan bill intends to foster efficient markets while increasing competition and transparency among meatpackers who purchase livestock directly from independent producers ...

Senate Finance senior member Chuck Grassley predicts President Biden will push to increase taxes on agriculture and other sectors to pay for his Green New Deal and infrastructure bills. Grassley and other Republicans recently introduced legislation to end the estate tax ...

While the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to approve Katherine Tai to become the next U.S. Trade Representative, Ag senator Chuck Grassley says the Biden trade agenda won’t likely become clear for months. The former Senate Finance Chair, said, as he sees it, Katherine Tai, will be confirmed well before President Biden’s trade agenda is clear. “Sh ...

The U.S. Dairy Export Council and the National Milk Producers Federation applaud the announcement that the U.S. Trade Representative is taking action on Canada’s dairy policies. Robert Lighthizer will initiate official consultations with Canada to examine the administration of its Tariff Rate Quota obligations for dairy. The ...