Adam Goldstein, South Dakota Searchlight U.S. House Republicans tussled with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Democratic committee members over work requirements in federal nutrition programs as well as spending levels for those programs at a Tuesday hearing. Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee charged Vilsack with evading bipartisan oversight …
Read More »USDA To Spend $500 Million Extending High-Speed Internet To Rural America
Jacob Fischler, Florida Phoenix The U.S. Department of Agriculture will send more than $500 million in loans and grants to telecommunications providers to bring high-speed internet to rural areas across 20 states, Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday. The department will spend $360 million in grants and $141 million in loans …
Read More »USDA Plans ‘historic’ Funding To Help Struggling Farmers And Develop New Agriculture Leaders
Jared Strong, Iowa Capital Dispatch August 24, 2022 The U.S. Department of Agriculture will distribute up to $550 million to expand certain farmers’ access to land, money and markets and to create educational opportunities for the students of higher-education institutions that cater to racial and ethnic minorities. “The idea here …
Read More »Biden Administration Plays Long Game For Agriculture And Trade
Jared Strong, Iowa Capital Dispatch The United States could take international trade actions that might have an immediate impact on the operating costs for farmers and the markets available for their crops, but the Biden administration has opted for a longer-term strategy, one of the nation’s top emissaries said Thursday …
Read More »Agriculture Secretary Lays Out Biden Administration Vision For ‘transformed food system’
by Jared Strong, Missouri Independent The Biden administration has set aside billions of dollars to help the nation’s food supply chain recover from the coronavirus pandemic — and, more recently, the looming global effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and on Wednesday, it announced new funding and a comprehensive …
Read More »Biden Administration Announces Boost For Rural Health Care In Midterm Election Push
by Katheryn Houghton, Kaiser Health News, Ohio Capital Journal April 15, 2022 As the midterm election season ramps up, the Biden administration wants rural Americans to know it’ll be spending a lot of money to improve health care in rural areas. It has tasked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with delivering …
Read More »Food Stamp Benefits To Get Historic Increase In October
The Biden Administration announced on Monday that food stamp benefits would be increased indefinitely by about 27% in October. The increase in benefits to the food stamp program, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is the largest increase in the history of the program. The Thrifty Food Plan, which …
Read More »Biden To Launch Biggest Summer Food Program In U.S. History
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a new effort on Monday that will feed more than 30 million children over the summer by expanding the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) benefits funded by President Joe Biden‘s American Rescue Plan. P-EBT was established in March 2020 to provide food dollars …
Read More »USDA Extends Free Meals Through Next School Year
The US Department of Agriculture has announced that it is extending Universal Free Lunch through the 2021-2022 school year. “This is an effort to help more than 12 million school students who are going through food insecurity. States and districts wanted waivers extended to plan for safe reopening in the fall. …
Read More »Cabinet Profiles: Tom Vilsack: Secretary Of Agriculture
The hearings for President Joe Biden‘s Cabinet nominations continue today. We will hear testimony from his picks to lead all of his cabinet positions over the next several weeks. We will profile the nominees in advance of their hearings so our readers will have some background information as the proceedings …
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