By
Philip Brasher
| July 26, 2013, 1:18 p.m.
Scientists started working back in the 1990s to genetically engineer a soybean that’s oil would be free of artery-clogging trans fats, a product farmers think will appeal to consumers as well as food-makers and fast-food chains.
By
Ellyn Ferguson
| July 15, 2013, 4:41 p.m.
The chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee said Monday that she is worried lawmakers could run out of time to produce a final farm bill if House leaders do not quickly send their chamber’s agriculture-only version to the Senate.
By
Ellyn Ferguson
| July 12, 2013, 2:21 p.m.
Smithfield Foods is the world’s largest pork producer and processor, an operation that has grown and thrived over the years as the meat industry consolidated into a handful of powerful companies controlling U.S. pork, chicken and beef output.
Burleigh C.W. Leonard
| July 10, 2013, 3:56 p.m.
The recent stunning defeat of the farm bill in the House of Representatives marked the first time in history that either body of Congress voted down such legislation. That has unleashed the latest round of finger-pointing inside the Beltway, with each party vigorously accusing the other of incompetence, treachery or both.
By
Daniel Newhauser
| June 26, 2013, 6 p.m.
A week after a surprising defeat for the farm bill, some House conservatives who helped sink the legislation are trying to build momentum to split it in half, ending years of precedent for passing agriculture and nutrition legislation in one package.
George Guimaraes, Crispian Kirk and Ellen Levinson
| June 26, 2013, 1:35 p.m.
The House of Representatives recently defeated an amendment that would have enacted the Obama administration’s proposal to allow 45 percent of Food for Peace Program funds to be given as cash or used to buy food aid commodities overseas, rather than buying them in the United States. The debate showed great concern that reducing U.S.-sourced food aid would endanger the future availability of food assistance by eroding a sizable U.S. food aid constituency and reducing the accountability of our precious food assistance dollars. Importantly, the discussion also showed a growing recognition that U.S.-sourced commodities are not always enough: buying food locally when feasible and incorporating developmental tools into our food security tool kit are also needed.
By
Ellyn Ferguson
| June 24, 2013, 5 a.m.
House leaders must determine how they can pick up the pieces after a bipartisan rejection of a five-year farm bill backed by Speaker John A. Boehner.
Helene D. Gayle
| June 19, 2013, 2:23 p.m.
Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases, and nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry every night.
By
Philip Brasher
| June 19, 2013, 12:24 p.m.
The House launched into debate of more than 100 amendments to the farm bill Wednesday, but there were signs that final passage might be delayed until next week.
Aleta Sprague
| June 19, 2013, 5 a.m.
State Line Road, along the border of Illinois and Indiana, defines more than geographic boundaries — it also defines the economic futures of struggling families.
Christine Harbin
| June 10, 2013, 1:23 p.m.
The 2013 farm bill is currently working its way through Congress, and proposed cuts to food stamps are at the center of the debate. The Senate version calls for cutting $1.7 billion from this program over the next five years; the slightly more aggressive House version proposes cutting $9.6 billion. These cuts may sound like a lot of money in isolation, but they’re barely a haircut in the big picture. Congress should go further in seeking real reforms to food stamps.
By
Philip Brasher
| June 7, 2013, 3:48 p.m.
Farmers know they’ll lose $5 billion in annual direct payments when a new farm bill passes. But up until now, few growers have complained about that prospect, because they know they can still count on buying federally subsidized crop insurance.
By
Emily Cadei
| May 24, 2013, 6 a.m.
A White House-proposed overhaul of the United States’ $1.4 billion food aid program is not going to happen, at least not in as ambitious a form as the administration requested in its fiscal 2014 budget.
Gerald S.J. Cassidy
| May 22, 2013, 5 a.m.
The mere mention of food stamps on Capitol Hill conjures up long held political stereotypes of Republicans reaching for the budget ax while Democrats reach out their hands, both a gross mischaracterization and oversimplification of a complex problem.
Dale Hall
| May 20, 2013, 1:20 p.m.
As the Agriculture committees in the House and Senate turn their attention to considering and reporting out a five-year farm bill this month, it’s important to consider how many Americans have felt the negative effects of not having a comprehensive bill.
By
Cristina Marcos
| May 17, 2013, 2:25 p.m.
Last year, Congress reauthorized the Food and Drug Administration’s user fee system for drugs and devices made to address human needs, and this year lawmakers are working on similar legislation for the growing industry of animal pharmaceuticals.
By
Emily Ethridge
| May 17, 2013, 1:40 p.m.
The Food and Drug Administration is able to do its work in part because of a symbiotic relationship with the industries it regulates. But recently that relationship has been knocked off balance.
By
Ellyn Ferguson
| May 17, 2013, 5 a.m.
The nation’s largest domestic food aid program should not be the item that sinks the House farm bill when it reaches the floor in June, Agriculture Committee leaders say.
Thomas P. Zacharias
| May 3, 2013, 2:14 p.m.
Admittedly, opponents of farm policy attract more headlines than the men and women who put food on our tables and clothes on our backs.
By
Ellyn Ferguson
| May 3, 2013, 1:21 p.m.
A House panel’s decision to look back at mandates set in the 2007 renewable-energy law could be a pivotal moment for industries hoping to slow down growth in the ethanol industry.
