From the House Ag Spending Bill: Directs the Agriculture Department to rewrite rules it issued in January meant to make school meals healthier. Republicans say the new rules, the first major overhaul of school lunches in 15 years, are too costly. Forces USDA to report to Congress every time officials travel to promote the department’s [...]
Archive for the ‘US Farm Bill’ Category
House Republicans at Work on the Farm Spending Bill
Posted in Politics, US Farm Bill on June 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The $147 Million per Year Story
Posted in Business, Farm Report, U.S. Economy, US Farm Bill on June 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
On February 18, Republicans in the House of Representatives defeated an obscure amendment to the House Appropriations bill by a 2-to-1 margin. The Kind Amendment would have eliminated $147 million dollars that the federal government pays every year directly to Brazilian cotton farmers. In an era of nationwide belt tightening, with funding for things like [...]
Farmland Conservation Easements, FRPP, and Local Food Production
Posted in Farm Report, Food, Soil, US Farm Bill on May 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Over the past few months, Peter and I have been planning a Rhode Island Farmland Fund. (See Rhode Island Fund Executive Summary) Through our development work on the Fund we have looked extensively at current protocols in the appraisal industry for ‘highest and best use’ and development values. We met with two conservation appraisers on [...]
Heard on the ecostreet…and we aren’t in Kansas anymore
Posted in Living Things, My Life, Politics, US Farm Bill on June 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I just heard a brief NPR report concerning Barack Obama’s new media campaign to reintroduce himself to the American public. They played an excerpt commenting on his upbringing in Kansas. I found myself reflecting on my childhood in Kentucky…playing by woods and fields, splashing in creeks and streams (while avoiding the feared copperheads), and running [...]
The 2007 Farm Bill…well almost…and Ecosystem Services
Posted in US Farm Bill on June 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Farm Bill has finally been passed, vetoed, and veto-overridden. It’s a law!…or at least all of it except for that little 30 page clerical error. So what does it say about ecosystem service markets? Here’s the news from USDA: The farm bill governs federal farm, food, and conservation policy and is renewed every five [...]
