Iowa

R-CALF USA recently sent a white paper to the Senate Agriculture Committee calling for mandating large packing plants to purchase at least 50% of their cattle needs from negotiated cash cattle markets. R-CALF USA says the white paper provides real-time evidence that varying minimum cash cattle purchase requirements region-to-region will allow major beef packers to continue denying timely market a

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 ...

On Wednesday, the Department of Agriculture announced the appointment of Terry Cosby to serve as chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Cosby began his career with USDA in 1979 as a student trainee in Iowa. Over Cosby's 42 years with the agency, he has served in numerous capacities, most recently, Acting Chief of NRCS and State Conservationist for Ohio ...

A bipartisan bill introduced this week looks to improve credit opportunities for rural America. The legislation, the Enhancing Credit Opportunities in Rural America Act, would remove taxation on income from farm real estate loans made by community banks ...

The Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled the confirmation hearing for Agriculture Secretary nominee Tom Vilsack. The committee will meet Tuesday, February 2. Vilsack is expected to enjoy a smooth confirmation process overall. Vilsack previously served as Ag Secretary for all eight years of the Obama administration before heading up the U ...

After years of stability, farmland prices may be set to rise in 2021. AgWeb.com said last week factors are coming together that may be about to send the price of land higher. Some of the key factors include government support for farmers, stronger commodity prices, low interest rates, limited farmland for sale, and strong interest from investors ...

President-elect Joe Biden told the New York Times this week that Democrats “forgot” about rural America. However, in the same interview, he says that residents of rural America will “not be left behind.” Biden talked about the future efforts of Democrats to win the support of rural American residents and the 74 million people who voted for Trump in the election. “You know, it real ...

The Biden camp is starting to formulate its environmental plan, including moves to combat global warming and most likely to reverse changes made by the Trump Administration. In their 300-page “Climate 21 Project” blueprint, former Obama officials propose dozens of greenhouse gas-reducing ideas, including a USDA CCC “carbon bank” to pay farmers and foresters to store carbon in their land. Senate

The USDA says it has paid more than $7 billion in assistance to farmers as part of round two of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Known as CFAP 2, the program provides farmers with financial aid to help absorb some of the increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic ...

Senate Ag Committee Chair Pat Roberts took part in a discussion on the Senate floor this week about the replenishment of the Commodity Credit Corporation. The Kansas Republican pointed out that failure to do so would not only hurt already-struggling farmers, ranchers, and growers, it would jeopardize the implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill programs ...