Farm Bill 2018

Conservation Programs In Farm Bill Can Help Farmers Protect Environment, Wallet

By Kristofor Husted • Feb 12, 2018

Farmers depend on productive, sustainable land, clean water and air and healthy animals to make a living. To help create those conditions and protect ecosystems, they get help from conservation programs that make up about 6 percent of the $500 billion federal farm bill.

Which Side Are You On? When It Comes To Farm Bill Politics, The Lines Blur

By Erica Hunzinger • Jan 31, 2018

Partisan politics may meet its match in the 2018 farm bill.

The massive legislation, versions of which will be introduced this spring in the U.S. House and Senate, is shaping up to be less about political affiliations and more about finding common ground.

Farm, Food, Forestry And More On The Table In The Next Federal Farm Bill

By Amy Mayer • Jan 12, 2018

In the coming months, Congress will map out how it’ll spend upwards of $500 billion on food and farm programs over the next five years.

The massive piece of legislation known as the farm bill affects all taxpayers — whether they know it or not — and runs the gamut from farm safety net and conservation programs to food stamps and loan guarantees for rural hospitals. Since the bill hasn’t been introduced yet, now is the time when interest groups, farmers and others clamor to ensure their desires will be heard.

Small Payouts From Farm Safety-Net Programs Make Big Difference In Rural Schools

By Amy Mayer • Dec 14, 2017

Amy Mayer / Harvest Public Media file photo

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay out almost $7 billion this year through two safety-net programs that offer farmers some assistance during tough financial times.

While most of it goes to farmers who grow corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops, K-12 public schools also get a sliver of the total payout. That’s a benefit for often rural districts that are struggling due to state legislatures trimming back their cut of education funding.

As Lawmakers Rewrite Policy, Dairy Farmers Push For Change

By Amy Mayer • Oct 2, 2017

Galen Fick milks 50 Brown Swiss cows every day on his farm in Boyden, Iowa, where his family has been in the dairy business for generations. Life as a dairy farmer has gotten harder and harder, he says, especially in the past two years.

“Our inputs have gone up so much, not the feed part of it but everything else,” he says, pointing to veterinary care and, especially, labor. “For us to make that profit, [it] makes it very tough.”

Trump To Tap Former Georgia Governor Perdue As Agriculture Secretary

By Jeremy Bernfeld • Jan 18, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump plans to pick former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the Agriculture Department, a transition official and a source close to the process confirmed to NPR.

Trump is expected to make a formal announcement on Thursday, ending a months-long process that left Agriculture Secretary as the final Cabinet post to be filled.