A recent issue of the Florida Citrus Mutual Triangle newsletter provided information about the wage that growers must pay H-2A labor, effective Dec. 29. H-2A workers are foreign agricultural workers who are allowed to work in the United States temporarily. In recent years, the vast majority of Florida citrus has been harvested by H-2A workers. The Employment and Training Administration …
Legislators Want Grapefruit Decision Reversed
Members of the Florida and Texas congressional delegations recently urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reverse its decision to administratively suspend juice content standards for imported grapefruit. The delegations also requested information regarding the circumstances of the suspension, which was allegedly made without a proper rulemaking process, and for which Congress was not notified. The request was led by …
House Advances Legislation to Provide Certainty and Increase Transparency in Cattle Markets
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a pair of bills to provide certainty and transparency in cattle markets—H.R. 5609, the Cattle Contract Library Act introduced by Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee Republican Leader Dusty Johnson, and H.R. 5290, a one-year extension for the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) Act introduced by Chairman David Scott. The current LMR authorization is set to …
Congress Approves Funding, Continues Ag Disaster Aid
Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown last week amid a GOP fight over the president’s vaccine policies, passing another stop-gap funding measure that continues farm disaster and pandemic aid. The new funding lasts only until February 18th, when lawmakers must again wrestle with funding for the rest of the current fiscal year. But until then, the second stop-gap bill in …
USDA to Issue Final Pandemic Payments for Timber Harvesters and Haulers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will start issuing final pandemic assistance payments to timber harvesters and timber hauling businesses through the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PATHH) program next week. Overall, $200 million will be provided to loggers and log trucking businesses who experienced a gross revenue loss of at least 10% during the period of Jan. 1 through Dec. …
Florida Farmers Grapple with Transportation Problems
(TALLAHASSEE/NSF/Dec. 2, 2021) — While global supply chain issues are reportedly easing, Florida farmers told lawmakers Thursday that perishable items with short shelf lives continue to struggle in being moved from fields to markets. During a meeting of the Senate Agriculture Committee, growers said the industry faces transportation and labor shortages in getting products out of the ground and to …
NCBA on Infrastructure Package
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, otherwise known as the Build Back Better bill, is an infrastructure package focused on creating American jobs, rebuilding our nation’s roads and bridges, and combatting the climate crisis. President Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law back in mid-November. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Vice President of Government Affairs, Ethan Lane, says this …
Waiver from Trucking Federal Rule Extended
It was announced Monday that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) had extended a waiver for commercial truckers from the federal Hours of Service (HOS) regulation to Feb. 28, 2022. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) thanked the Biden administration, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Meera Joshi, FMCSA deputy administrator for the extension. The HOS rule limits truckers to 11 hours of …
Trouble Ahead for the Next Farm Bill
A Successful Farming article says there may be trouble ahead for the upcoming Farm Bill in Washington, D.C. A former USDA official says the 2023 legislation could be in trouble if the political turbulence surrounding the last two farm bills keeps going into next year. “The deep polarization heightens the uncertainty of how this farm bill will unfold in Congress,” …
Vilsack: Nothing in Build Back Better Bill Threatens Farmers
While some in agriculture question the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Bill, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he respectfully disagrees with those who say that it will cause the loss of family farms. AFBF President Zippy Duval told farm reporters last week that the bill’s costs outweighed increases for farm programs. But Vilsack said the bill actually has provisions that …