Jeanie Igl did not hesitate when asked, “What are the greatest challenges in farming going forward?”

“Taxes and government regulation,” she responded promptly and firmly. The fourth-generation Mason, Mich., farmer was looking for answers when Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited their 2,600-acre corn and soybean operation June 11 — Vilsack’s first Midwest farm visit since his appointment as secretary.

Vilsack was invited to the farm by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., to hear from growers who had questions about taxes, climate change provisions and more.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) began accepting nominations for county committee members on June 15. Elections will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for these members who make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2021 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 2, 2021.

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Landowners and agricultural producers currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) now have a wider opportunity to enroll in a 30-year contract through the Clean Lakes, Estuaries, And Rivers initiative, called CLEAR30. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding CLEAR30 – a water-quality focused option available through CRP – to be nationwide now.

Interested producers with CRP contracts expiring September 30, 2021, should sign up by August 6, 2021. CLEAR30 provides an opportunity for producers to receive incentives for a 30-year commitment to water quality practices on their CRP land, building on their original 10- to 15-year CRP contracts

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set a July 23, 2021, deadline for agricultural producers and landowners to apply for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General signup 56. Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will accept applications for CRP Grasslands from July 12 to August 20. This year, USDA updated both signup options to provide greater incentives for producers and increase its conservation benefits, including reducing the impacts of climate change.

Both signups are competitive and will provide for annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes.

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On June 9, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a $1.6 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Water Institute of the Gulf, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to develop the Lower Mississippi SmartPort and Resilience Center (i.e., SmartPort).

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Questions about the meat industry dominated a Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing Tuesday at which Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appeared in person to discuss the Biden administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2022.

In an opening statement, Vilsack said, “The president’s budget for 2022 for USDA programs within this subcommittee is $192 billion, of which approximately $168 billion is mandatory funding and $23.2 billion is net discretionary funding.

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A bee-less future would sting us all. The decline of bees and other pollinator populations threatens our global food security and here’s why.

Pollinators contribute to ecosystem health and a sustainable food supply. Honeybees, native bees, birds, bats, butterflies, and other animals are all required for more than 80% of the world’s flowering plants to reproduce. This includes food crops.

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Col., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, met with representatives from major farm and farmworker organizations in a roundtable Wednesday, June 16, to discuss the needs of agricultural labor reform as the Senate begins to formulate its on solution ag labor.

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Agricultural producers who have not yet completed their crop acreage reports after planting should make an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office before the applicable deadline. July 15 is a major deadline for most crops, but acreage reporting deadlines vary by county and by crop.

“USDA offers a lot of programs to assist producers, but in order to receive many of these program benefits, you must file an accurate crop acreage report,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Once planting is complete, call your local FSA county office to make an appointment.”

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today additional aid to agricultural producers and businesses as part of the USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative. Earlier this year, Secretary Vilsack announced plans to use available pandemic assistance funds to address a number of gaps and disparities in previous rounds of aid. As part of the Pandemic Assistance initiative announced in March, USDA pledged to continue Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments and to provide aid to producers and businesses left behind. Implementation of the assistance announced today will continue within 60 days to include support to timber harvesters, biofuels, dairy farmers and processors, livestock farmers and contract growers of poultry, assistance for organic cost share, and grants for PPE.

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More than $1 billion in payments will be released over the next several weeks starting June 15 for agricultural producers with approved applications for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program and for producers who have already received payments through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+).

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