Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, held a farm-bill listening session in his home district in Fresno, California, on Thursday. Farmers talked about the prolonged impact of the drought and some of the holes in the farm safety net.
USDA mailed out pre-filled applications in late May to producers with crop insurance who suffered losses due to natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. The deadline to complete those applications is July 22.
Farm groups testifying before Senate Agriculture Committee leaders at a hearing in Arkansas stressed they want more funding for commodity programs in the next farm bill.
The House voted 369-42 on Monday evening to approve the Senate version of the bill, which gives the Federal Maritime Commission more teeth to oversee ocean shipping companies. President Joe Biden wants to sign the bill immediately and pressed last week for final passage. He spoke last Friday at ports in California, noting the shipping companies last year raked in $150 billion in profits at the expense of export businesses and consumers.
Two Midwestern states passed legislation hoping to boost the fortunes of small meat lockers. Both Iowa and Nebraska pushed grant money to these businesses, while Iowa also created a one-year community college program to teach people the butchery trade.