john thune

A pair of U.S. Senators want the federal government to issue guidance excluding C-FAP payments from farmers’ and ranchers’ 2020 gross receipts for purposes of obtaining a second draw loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. Senators ...

Last week, senators John Thune of South Dakota and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan introduced the Cover Crop Flexibility Act of 2020. The legislation would permanently remove the prohibition on harvesting or grazing cover crops on prevented plant acres before November 1st ...

New legislation introduced in the Senate seeks more accurate weather forecasting.  The Learning Excellence and Good Examples from New Developers, or LEGEND Act, would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make certain weather models public and seek innovations to improve weather models.  ...

New legislation introduced in the Senate seeks more accurate weather forecasting.  The Learning Excellence and Good Examples from New Developers, or LEGEND Act, would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make certain weather models public and seek innovations to improve weather models.   ...

Last week, senators peppered Trump Administration officials at USDA and the Office of the Trade Representative with questions regarding trade policy.  The Thursday hearing focused on the Trump Administration’s policies and the resulting harm to American farmers from retaliatory tariffs.  Both Republic...

Among the provisions of the tax cut bill passed by Congress last year, is a change in the estate tax.  South Dakota Senator John Thune said the bill doubled the amount of unified credit.   “That’s the amount of assets, your wealth basically on your farm or ranch, that is not subject to taxation.  So, today, that’s $...

A provision in the overhaul of the U.S. tax code had some unintended negative side effects on certain agribusinesses across the country.  The provision gives producers a chance to cut down on their taxable income if they sell their commodities to agricultural cooperatives.  It appe...

The Conservation Reserve Program got renewed attention at a recent confirmation hearing for nominees for top Department of Agriculture posts.  Lawmakers focused on both acreage enrollment and emergency CRP haying and grazing.  CRP has always been popular, but low crop prices and continuing droughts and other disasters is spurring renewed interest in the land conservation program.  South D... Read

Senator John Thune recently introduced legislation designed to make updates to the Livestock Forage Program and the Livestock Indemnity Program.  The goal, according to the South Dakota Republican, is to get producers the help they need through LFP twice as fast as the current rate.  ...

South Dakota Republican Senator John Thune has introduced a measure designed to give producers another conservation option in the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill.  He’s calling it the Soil Health and Income Protection Program, or SHIPP.  An AgWeb.com article sai...