trump

Trump Budget Proposal Considered “DOA”

Dan Economy, Industry News Release, Legislative

Presidential budget proposals have been dead on arrival before. However, the Hagstrom Report says no budget outline has been as dead as the one President Trump sent to members of Congress on Monday. No one in the entire American food chain seems happy with what they’ve seen. Everyone, from members of Congress to farm leaders, crop insurance executives, as well …

budget house agriculture appropriations

House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Budget

Dan Legislative

Last week, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee put together its budget and what the subcommittee is looking at does not align with the budget proposal for agriculture from President Trump. The subcommittee’s bill totals $20 billion in discretionary funding, which is $876 million lower than the fiscal year 2017 enacted level and $4.64 billion above the president’s budget request. The …

house

House Subcommittee Limits USDA Cuts to 5 Percent

Dan Economy, Industry News Release

The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee advanced the fiscal year 2018 spending bill for discretionary programs at USDA and other agencies at just over $20 billion. That’s a $1.1 billion cut from last year’s funding bill and 5.2 percent less than current funding levels. If those numbers hold, USDA would get roughly $876 million less in funding levels compared to the …

Vilsack

Ag Lawmakers Discuss Proposed Budget Cuts

Dan Economy, Industry News Release

A recent Senate Agriculture Committee hearing left no doubt where agriculture lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle stand on the administration’s proposed cuts to key programs for rural America. Republican Committee Chair Pat Roberts recited a litany of gloomy ag statistics, warning against more spending cuts on top of cuts in the last farm bill and earlier cuts …

secretary

Perdue Looking at ‘Right-Sizing’ USDA Agencies

Dan General

We’ve heard a lot the past few days about President Trump’s proposed budget and how if realized, would mean steep cuts for agriculture. One area of those proposed cuts is the U.S. Department of Agriculture staff, as the budget proposal calls for an estimated cut of 5,263 positions. Last week Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told a House Appropriations Subcommittee that …

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Addresses USMEF

Dan Trade

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) held their Spring Conference in Arlington, Virginia last week. One of the speakers was Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. We’ve heard that President Trump’s proposed budget includes cuts to the USDA Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development Program (FMD). Sen. Roberts talked about …