farm policy

Contractors say they have enough local labor to detassel Nebraska’s seed corn but they’re losing work to migrant workers on H-2A visas. A 2024 law attempted to increase transparency in detasseling.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July allocated $170 billion for immigration enforcement, detention and deportation. Some agricultural organizations and programs have issued guidance for farmers who employ foreign workers.

The massive legislation extends tax cuts and increases safety nets for farmers who grow commodities, like corn, wheat and rice. But deep cuts to federal food assistance spending could hurt specialty growers who benefit from programs like Double Up Food Bucks.

Federal funding cuts are hitting several areas here in Iowa. This hour, we learn about two of them.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins made her first official visit to Iowa since her appointment by President Donald Trump. It came just days before President Trump has promised to roll out more tariffs.

A federal freeze on certain USDA programs has held up billions of dollars for conservation and caused layoffs at a nonprofit in Iowa that supports soil and water quality.

The Farm Bill has been extended for a year as part of a legislative package that prevented a federal government shutdown. While some ag groups applauded the bipartisan measure, many are urging Congress to pass a new Farm Bill next year.

There are a lot of assumptions about the urban/rural divide. Combining historical perspective with the largest-ever national survey of rural voters, two government professors set out to find out what’s really behind this divide.

At the Farm Progress Show in Boone Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the next phase for a bird flu vaccine for dairy cows and more funding to expand domestic fertilizer production. The former Iowa governor also discussed the USDA’s forecasts for a downturn in on-farm income for 2024.

The Iowa Food System Coalition wants to make locally produced food the norm rather than an exception and released a 250-page plan to get there in the next decade.