The Senate on Tuesday confirmed an important member of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s team at USDA, approving the nomination of Robert Bonnie to be undersecretary for farm production and conservation.
The vote was 76-19, with more than two dozen Republicans backing Bonnie, including farm-state lawmakers such as Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, John Thune and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, ranking member of the Agriculture Committee.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is beginning the process of establishing the first regulations for protecting workers from heat. OSHA will be gathering comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, or ANPR, through Dec. 27. The agency is seeking input on issues such as heat-stress thresholds, heat-acclimatization planning and exposure monitoring.
In their continuing effort to reach out to interested industry partners, NRCS Chief Cosby and his senior staff briefed NLICA and other interested stakeholders on the Service’s recent activities. Chief Cosby highlighted the three agency policy priorities: diversity, climate and urban agriculture. You can view the three Powerpoint briefing presentations on the subjects.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to hold a vote on both the Build Back Better Act and the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill today. A vote sometime in the next two days on legislation calling for nearly $3 trillion in federal spending that’s been delayed for weeks. Predicting congressional votes is a short-term career but House leadership, especially after fallout from this Tuesday’s elections, are being pressured to Build Back Better fast!
As Congress returns from its recess and negotiations intensify between the White House and Democratic factions in Congress over the size and scope of the reconciliation bill, here is the latest on the infrastructure bill.
The National Association of Conservation Districts and a coalition of 165 leading agriculture, conservation and wildlife groups sent a letter to Congress urging them to ensure that the proposed $28 billion investment into U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agriculture conservation programs and conservation technical assistance remains in the final budget reconciliation package.
A Vancouver company is redefining the future of farming– and it’s getting some major growth. Local indoor vertical farm, Forward Greens is growing up instead of out to meet rising demands.
The innovative model uses 95% less water and 97% less land than traditional methods and uses no pesticides, which is all a part of Founder Ken Kaneko’s commitment to sustainable indoor farming.
View MoreEPA Administrator Michael Regan has said repeatedly he wants to craft a “durable” definition of “waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act — one informed by Supreme Court precedent and input from a variety of stakeholders.
Former Rep. Xochitl Torres Small has been confirmed by the Senate to become the Agriculture Department’s undersecretary for rural development.
As Congress winds down for the fiscal year – already extended – PunchBowl news reported on insiders take on what if any legislation will be passed in the very near future and what is driving current politics: