House announces intent to consider agriculture funding bill next week

The House Rules Committee has announced that it may meet the week of July 24 to provide for floor consideration for the FY2024 appropriations bill for USDA and FDA. This week, members were required to file their amendments to the funding bill. 142 amendments to the bill have been filed. The bill was approved by the Appropriations Committee on June 26 following a long and contentious markup.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the USDA and FDA appropriations bill on June 22; Senate leadership has not announced when the full chamber will consider its bill. The FY2023 appropriations bill expires on September 30.

USDA partners with state attorneys general to address competition in agriculture

On Thursday, USDA announced it was partnering with the attorneys general of 31 states and Washington, DC, to improve competition in the food and agriculture markets. The initiative will focus on competition in three main areas: intellectual property in seed markets, consumer choice, and price gouging in the food retail and agriculture industries. With regard to competition in seed markets, USDA announced it had established the Farmer Seed Liaison initiative to increase transparency in the industry. More information on the initiative can be found here.

Agriculture hearing on rural water systems this week

On Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing on rural water systems. A recording of the hearing can be found here.