Major U.S. agricultural production groups are pulling together their requests for the next farm bill — the massive legislation that Congress rewrites every five years to set farm and food policy — with crop insurance and disaster assistance on the top of their lists.
A panel of executives from farm groups detailed some of their concerns and requests for the next farm bill Tuesday at the Minnesota FarmFest, an agribusiness fair organized by the American Farm Bureau.
The farm bill includes both mandatory and discretionary spending. Congress can change discretionary spending in the annual spending bills.
But most farm bill programs are mandatory spending, including crop subsidies, farm bill conservation programs and some forms of crop insurance. For those programs, the farm bill will set the funding structure for the next five years.
Young federal employees are leaving the federal government at a rapid rate, with nearly 9% of those under 30 quitting in fiscal 2021. Initial reaction may be – it’s about time – but the reality is someone needs to run and manage these programs so many people depend on.
Like the rest of the country, Washington DC is hot. The Congressional calendar is short as the August break and fiscal year loom in the not-too-distant future. Here is what Congress faces in the next few weeks.
Congress continues to take input on changes to the next farm bill which will be drafted next year. Below are some comments from Rita Hite, president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, on changes her organization would like to see in farm, specially forest, programs.
No surprise to anyone buying anything but the Associated General Contractors summed up some of the price increases facing the industry in a recent report.
The July 4th Recess traditionally gives Congress and chance to take a short break before the mad dash to August’s longer break and the end of the fiscal year in September. Here is what is on their plate as the November elections near.
Dave Bauer, president and CEO, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) recently had this to say about a proposed gas tax holiday -
Time is running out for the union representing workers at West Coast ports and their employers to negotiate new labor contracts by the time they expire today and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are urging against work stoppages if talks are unsuccessful.
Social media is filled with people – influencers - trying to sell you products and services. Our political system is filled with people – lobbyists – trying to sell their ideas and positions. I thought this article below from the American Farm Bureau says it all about who really has the power to influence our elected officials.