Jim Wiesemeyer

Jim Wiesemeyer was a Pro Farmer contributor as the Washington Bureau Chief. His columns provided expertise and insight on farm policy, trade policy and Washington politics.

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More than 16% of new cars sold in California in 2022 were zero-emissions vehicles, the state said, up from 12.41% in 2021 and 7.78% in 2020.
California announced last week that it will ban the sale of internal combustion engine passenger cars by 2035. The decision comes on the heels of diesel shortages along the East Coast, which caught attention on The Hill.
When adjusted for inflation, 2022 net cash farm income is forecast to increase by $13.5 billion (8.7%) from 2021 and be at its highest level since 2012.
A pandemic-era program that provided free breakfast and lunch to all schoolchildren expired this year. Republicans voted against efforts to include free school meals this week. Biden’s plan reinstates the program.
The WOTUS case, Sackett v. EPA, centers on a long-running dispute involving an Idaho couple named Chantell and Michael Sackett. The Sacketts have won at the Supreme Court before.
President Richard Nixon hosted the last White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health in 1969. That confab led to expansions of the food stamp program, the school lunch program and WIC.
Farm-state lawmakers will eventually add billions to the aid package, but Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) agrees it could take until a later omnibus spending measure to be approved.
The details of the tentative agreement reached on Thursday morning have not been shared, and could still be voted down by members who need to ratify the agreement to settle the matter.
Lawmakers may have left town, but centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) left no doubt that he cannot support President Biden’s $1.75 trillion social and climate spending plan, imperiling the president’s agenda.
USDA raised its consumer food price forecast again, to 8.5% to 9.5% for 2022. The agency had initially predicted a 2% to 3% rise in prices. Eggs, fats and oils, and poultry prices are making the biggest gains.