On November 23rd, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced the introduction of a bill (Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2021 (PACTPA)) aimed at removing registrations of certain pesticides utilized by farmers in the United States.
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Economists at the University of Arkansas released its interactive 2022 crop enterprise budgets. These are designed to assist Arkansas producers and other agricultural stakeholders in evaluating expected costs and returns for the upcoming crop production y
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On Friday, December 3rd, U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) released an op-ed focused on the issue of declining farmer sentiment as it relates to inflation pressures facing agriculture. Boozman, Arkansas's senior senator, is Vice Chairman of the U.S. Senate
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On December 3rd, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced plans to call a special legislative session beginning December 7th to consider income tax cuts and related tax policy changes such as smoothing of tax brackets and an increase to earned income tax credits
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On Monday, November 29th, the Arkansas Board of Apportionment, consisting of the Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General, finalized legislative maps for the Arkansas General Assembly. The Board of Apportionment was created in 1936 by Amendment
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On Tuesday, November 16th, an Arkansas legislative panel approved the use of $125 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to be used for rural broadband projects. The funds will go towards 32 projects that were recommended by the Department of Comme
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Following a two-week multinational summit on climate change that ended November 13th, an agreement among nearly 200 countries to jointly combat climate change was reached. The agreement intends to keep a goal of reducing global temperatures by 1.5 degrees
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On Friday, November 19th, the U.S. House of Representatives approved $1.75 trillion in new spending and taxes for "social infrastructure" in the "Build Back Better" plan developed by democrats through a budget reconciliation process. The process allows fo
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December promises to be a very busy legislative time period for Congress as deadlines approach for critical items, including a need to address the debt ceiling and continue funding the federal government. Failure to address these issues, which are facing
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On November 18th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army (Corps of Engineers) announced that it has proposed a rule to revise the definition of “waters of the United States.” The agencies propose to put back into pla
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On November 18th, President Biden hosted a White House diplomatic summit with his counterparts from Canada and Mexico to discuss a range of issues, including implementation of the United States, Mexico, and Canada (USMCA) trade agreement. President Biden
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Recent reports by American Farm Bureau and USDA indicate food costs increasing and American consumers should expect a more expensive Thanksgiving meal this year. While USDA and American Farm Bureau estimates on estimated increases, both did show year over
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