Congress Resumes Farm Bill Efforts and House Passes Farmland Ownership Act
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**The National Farmers Union and the USDA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to address staffing levels and improve customer service at USDA Farm Service Agency county offices.
Both say they will work together to get feedback on the experiences of family farmers and ranchers when interacting with FSA staff.
By hosting listening sessions in local communities, NFU says it will provide a platform for farmers to share their concerns and ideas for improvement.
**With Congress now back from its August recess, leaders from both parties say they’ll resume talks to get a Farm Bill passed before the end of the year.
Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow told Successful Farming she would do “everything in her power to pass a farm bill” this year.
Farm-state lawmakers have been deadlocked for weeks over SNAP funding, higher crop subsidy spending, and climate mitigation.
**The House of Representatives passed the “Protecting U.S. Farmland from Foreign Adversaries Act.”
The legislation would increase scrutiny of foreign bids to purchase U.S. farmland, particularly from adversaries like China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran.
It would add the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment and include the secretary on future transactions involving ag land, biotech, product transportation, storage, and processing.
A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.
