Joni Ernst

Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Senate introduced legislation last week that would strike down California's animal-welfare law created as a result of Proposition 12.  The Food Security and Farm Protection Act introduced by Iowa’s senators Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst,  as well as Roger Marshall from Kansas, would prevent any state or local government from passing laws that interfere with commerce a

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says farmers and ranchers need a new five-year Farm Bill in 2025.   " has failed now to get through Congress the last two times under the Biden administration, and it is a very, very big priority of mine," Rollins said last week.  ...

Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin as well as Iowa's Joni Ernst recently announced their “Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports Rural America Act” unanimously passed in the Senate.  The ACCESS Act expands rural broadband access by easing the burden of regulatory costs for smaller broadband providers that rural communities rely on.  Baldwin said access...

A bipartisan group of Senators recently launched an effort to get USDA to improve the accuracy of foreign-owned farmland data.  The group, led by Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst and John Fetterman wrote Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack that FSA data on foreign holdings of U.S. farmla...

Senate Ag Committee members Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Fetterman (D-PA), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) are asking the USDA to improve its process for foreign-owned farmland disclosures.  The letter follows alleged inaccuracies posted online by the Farm Service Agency under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act.   “...

USDA nominees for top trade and food safety posts will now have to wait until after the midterm elections in November for Senate confirmation votes.  The Senate wrapped up work Thursday to head home for campaigns without confirming Biden USDA undersecretary nominees Oregon Department of Ag head Alexis Taylor for trade and Jose Emilio Esteban for food safety.  That’s ...

Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Joni Ernst of Iowa introduced bipartisan legislation last week to protect and expand access to high-speed internet in rural communities and encourage rural broadband investment. The Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports Rural America Act would provide regulatory relief to rural telecommunications service providers by allowing them to submi

Inflation is "front and center" for agriculture and other sectors as D.C. lawmakers prepare for the November midterm elections.  Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said farm families, regardless of commodity, are feeling the pinch. “We are in a recession, and a lot of these families that normally are exhilarated by the thought of spending a week-and-a-half away from home with their livestock, with

Iowa’s U.S. Senators are calling for more Americans to be eligible to obtain a commercial driver’s license, known as a CDL, to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce. Republicans Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst penned a letter this week to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on the issue. They asked ...

Late last week, federal lawmakers introduced the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression, or EATS Act, to prohibit states and local governments from interfering with agriculture products from other states. Specifically, the bill seeks to block California’s Proposition 12, which would require meat products raised outside of the state to conform to the animal rights standards adopted by California.