Farm Policy News

The Farm Bill will once again be in front of the Senate Agriculture Committee for a vote on Wednesday, with the return of Senator Mitch McConnell from a several month absence giving Republicans enough votes to advance the legislation out of committee if they remain unified.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden was in Iowa Friday, asking farmers from across the country to share their experiences dealing with consolidation and pricing issues in the fertilizer industry. Separately, the Senate Agriculture Committee will return to action on Wednesday for another vote on its currently stalled Farm Bill 2.0.

A federal judge in San Francisco is considering a temporary pause of the Agriculture Department’s imminent plans to relocate employees across the country. He said an administrative stay “doesn't say anything about the merits" of the case, but would give him more time to “adjudicate this properly.”

Artificial intelligence use is surging on farms as growers look for some high-tech help in planning and managing operations after years of scaling back on spending, according to McKinsey & Co. Some 17% of the world’s farmers now use generative AI in farm-related tasks, making it one of the fastest-growing technologies in agriculture.

Skyrocketing diesel costs are threatening to squeeze farm profits, just as U.S. crop growers were starting to catch a break. The average price of U.S. diesel reached a new all-time high of $5.94 a gallon on Wednesday, up four cents from the prior record set Monday over the travel-heavy Labor Day weekend, according to automobile club AAA. Prices are up 61% from a year ago.