U.S. Senate

This one-pager is designed to be easily digestible and explains urban agriculture in layman’s terms.

As Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden led Wednesday’s session pushing to approve the nomination of Doug McKalip as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the USTR.   "These days, Americans are paying more for their groceries but getting less, and our farms and ranches are getting clobbered by inflation and drought.  American...

Ag Labor remains one of the chief concerns for the farming community, not only due to increasing costs, but limited availability in 2022. Dan Newhouse, chair of Western Caucus said unfortunately, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which has already cleared the House is stalled in the Senate ...

The Senate will vote whether or not to confirm Tom Vilsack as Agriculture Secretary next week. The exact time is uncertain, but the Senate calendar has the vote planned for Tuesday, February 23rd. The Senate will debate the nomination for 20 minutes before voting, with the majority and minority parties receiving equal time ...

Late last week, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell took to the Senate Floor calling for more to be done to fight wildfires now and to prevent them into the future. First, Cantwell called on President Trump to help the U.S. reach out to the international community for additional firefighters ...

A bill that would make it easier to kill sea lions that feast on salmon in the Columbia River has cleared the U.S. Senate.  Wildlife managers say rebounding numbers of sea lions are eating more salmon than ever and their appetites are undermining billions of dollars of investments to restore endangered fish runs.  ...

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, and Idaho’s Mike Crapo introduced an amendment to the Senate Farm Bill Tuesday.  Their proposal would increase the ability of the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research to receive federal grant funding.  Research...

President Trump’s tariffs and the GOP push for tougher food stamp work requirements are complicating Senate farm bill debate.  Senate farm bill amendment debate was supposed to start with a rider to expand and improve the Conservation Reserve Program.  But, a c...

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue was in Chicago this week for the United Fresh Produce Show.  While there, he addressed the progress of the Farm Bill.  He sounded optimistic when mentioning the Senate's Cloture vote.   "Hopefully that means we can get to a Farm Bill prior to expiration in September."   Supp...

The Senate early this week showed large support for the farm bill, or at least debate on the bill. The procedural cloture vote Monday passed easily, 89-3. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the chamber has the opportunity to finalize this bill this week...