farm bill News

Texas Farmers Look to New Congress to Update Crucial Farm Bill

Texas farmers tepidly celebrated last month after Congress barely managed to extend a package of laws meant to aid the nation’s agriculture industry and feed low-income Americans. The clock is now ticking for federal lawmakers to pass a new, updated …

Farm Bill Becomes Lightning Rod in Wisconsin Senate Race

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde has repeatedly defended his self-professed lack of knowledge about the U.S. farm bill in the campaign’s closing days, after first saying in a debate that he is “not an expert” …

Texas Farmers and Ranchers Sound Alarm Over Languishing Farm Bill

LUBBOCK — Federal lawmakers are sounding the alarm on the economic catastrophe that could happen if a new farm bill isn’t passed by the end of this year, now that the 2018 version has officially expired. Since it was introduced …

Republican Senators’ FARMER Act Seeks to Boost Crop Insurance Coverage

Republican senators this month introduced legislation they say would increase support for crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more affordable to farmers. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D) proposed the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act, an …

California Cities and Farms to Get 10% of Requested State Water Supplies When 2024 Starts

California water agencies serving 27 million people will get 10% of the water they requested from state supplies to start 2024 due to a relatively dry fall, even though the state’s reservoirs are in good shape, state officials said. The …

Delayed Passage of Farm Bill Stirs Concern for Texas Agriculture

WASHINGTON — Key federal legislation to support farmers and consumers could get delayed due to the looming government shutdown, causing uncertainty for agriculture and nutrition programs in Texas. The must-pass package of legislation known as the farm bill, which is …

Viewpoint: Washington’s Aggressive Approach to Preventing Intoxicating Hemp Cannabinoids May Be Good for Other States

Like other states across the country, Washington has been grappling with how to regulate intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products that are being innovated faster than state lawmakers can respond. The state has decided on an extreme solution that prohibits products containing …

Texas Cotton Farmers Seek Improvements to Crop Insurance

LUBBOCK — On the eve of another drought-ridden growing season, farmers from the High Plains are asking state and national lawmakers to provide a stronger financial safety net. In Austin and Washington, D.C., farmers from the 41-county High Plains region, …

Bill Would Offer Crop Insurance Discount to Farmers Who Plant Cover Crops

A bipartisan bill proposed by federal lawmakers would provide farmers a discount on crop insurance premiums by planting cover crops. The Conversation Opportunity and Voluntary Environment Resilience (COVER) Act, proposed last week by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Reps. Sean …

Two Takeaways from Delta-8 Conversation

Delta-8 is generating quite a buzz over what appears to be legal loophole enabling the production and sales of the intoxicating product in both legal and non-legal states. New York just became the latest state to ban delta-8 THC, as …