GOVERNMENT

US Senate nears final vote on key worker aid bill

WASHINGTON — A standoff between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans over free trade agreements could take a major step toward resolution Thursday with a Senate vote on legislation to help American workers who fall victim to foreign competition.

By Jim Abrams , September 22, 2011

Bachmann says food industry overregulated

DES MOINES, Iowa — A week after the Agriculture Department announced wider testing for potentially deadly E. coli in meat, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Tuesday that regulations were overburdening food producers.

By Thomas Beaumont , September 22, 2011

ND governor asks Vilsack for disaster declaration

BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Jack Dalrymple has asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to issue a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for qualifying North Dakota counties where farmers and ranchers have suffered significant production losses due to this spring’s severe storms, excessive rainfall, flooding and other weather-related damages.

September 22, 2011

Ag appropriations bill approved

WASHINGTON — The Senate Appropriations Committee Sept. 7 approved a $19.78 billion fiscal year 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill that provides less discretionary spending than either the 2010 or 2011 bills, but left potential controversial amendments for the Senate floor even though some senators are worried that the bill never will come up as an individual piece of legislation. Lobbyists had expected the committee to take up amendments on genetically modified salmon, the school lunch rule, horse slaughter, the Packers and Stockyards rule and conservation, and there were discussions of all except horse slaughter and Packers and Stockyards.

By Jerry Hagstrom , September 12, 2011

Senators offer amendments to ag appropriations bill

WASHINGTON — Amendments to keep the Food and Drug Administration from approving “Frankenfish” genetically modified salmon and to stop the Agriculture Department from cutting back on the use of potatoes and other starchy vegetables in the school lunch program are among those that might be offered on the Senate floor if the Senate version of the fiscal year 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill comes up there as an independent piece of legislation.

By Jerry Hagstrom , September 12, 2011

Is hay a pollutant?

An outspoken cattleman, at odds with the Environmental Protection Agency, says the agency has declared hay to be a pollutant, at least in his own case. Mike Callicrate, a Kansas cattle feeder and member of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, also says the EPA is working to drive small- and mid-sized feedlots out of business for the benefit of meatpackers and big corporate feedlot operators.

By Jonathan Knutson , September 12, 2011

NM farmer to pay $18M in restitution to feds

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A southern New Mexico farmer has been sentenced to five years in prison and must pay more than $18 million in restitution to the federal government for evading taxes and fraudulently collecting farm subsidies.

September 01, 2011

Automatic trigger vs. supercommittee deal

BRAINERD, Minn. — An automatically triggered 9 percent cut to the agriculture budget probably would be better than any deal the congressional supercommittee works out on reducing deficit, House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Aug. 15 in a wide-ranging speech to the Minnesota Ag Leadership Conference, an event sponsored by Minnesota Corn, a growers’ group.

By Jerry Hagstrom , August 29, 2011

Peterson: Too soon to know impact of crop insurance program cuts

BRAINERD, Minn. — House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Aug. 15 in Brainerd, Minn., that there should be no changes to the crop insurance program in the 2012 farm bill.

By Jerry Hagstrom , August 29, 2011

Congress looks for ways to help struggling dairy farmers

WASHINGTON — With a gallon of milk costing as much as or more than a gallon of gasoline this summer, a consumer scanning the supermarket shelves might think the situation is a cash cow for dairy farmers. In reality, it isn’t. As the price of milk hovers around $4 a gallon, dairy farmers nationwide still are struggling with the aftermath of what’s dubbed the Great Dairy Recession.

By Curtis Tate , August 29, 2011

Farmers hoping some type of safety net survives in new farm bill

CASTLEFORD, Idaho — On a recent summer day, Jon Wells walked along the irrigation line bordering his cornfield, adjusting the flow of water that runs between the field’s rows.

By Ben Botkin , August 29, 2011

Motion to bar Montana, Idaho wolf hunts denied

HELENA, Mont. — A federal appeals court on Thursday denied a request by environmental groups to halt wolf hunts that are scheduled to begin next week in Idaho and Montana.

August 26, 2011

Kansas senator takes drought tour as hearing looms

KINGMAN, Kan. — Sen. Pat Roberts plans a tour of drought-damaged fields in Reno County on the eve of a U.S. agriculture committee hearing in Kansas over the 2012 farm bill.

August 24, 2011

Thune: Ag policies will change in next farm bill

RAPID CITY - The next farm bill is likely to look very different from the farm subsidy system America's agricultural producers have known.

By Denise Ross , August 24, 2011

Getting the word out

WASHINGTON — Following up on President Obama’s statement to a farmer in Illinois that the farmer should “contact USDA” if he has concerns about proposed regulations, the Agriculture Department in Washington will provide USDA offices in the states and counties information on regulatory initiatives, a spokesman for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Aug. 19.

By Jerry Hagstrom , August 22, 2011