Patty Murray

It’s not often that all six of the Northwest Senators are on the same page. But as proven over and over, 2020 is not your typical year. Washington’s Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Idaho’s Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined bipartisan group of lawmakers calling on Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue to provide financial assistance to wheat growers impacted by the coro

Several Northwest lawmakers are asking the USDA why funds have been redirected from a program designed to help farmers who are immigrants, people of color and veterans. The letter signed by Washington Senator Patty Murray, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer, asks the USDA’s Mike Beatty to explain why funding appropriated for  the Outreach and Assistance for Soci

Washington’s congressional delegation is calling on the USDA to support the state’s specialty crop industry. On Tuesday, Representative Dan Newhouse and Senator Maria Cantwell led the delegation in sending a letter to Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue calling for the state’s specialty crop industry to be included in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. The bipartisan letter, r ...

A bipartisan group of senators wants the Trump Administration to remove the caps on the amount of direct coronavirus relief farmers can get under USDA’s new aid package. The $19 billion plan for relief, put together by President Trump and Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue, includes $16 billion in direct payments, which are capped at $125,000 per commodity and $250,000 per person. Tha ...

Lawmakers are urging Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to make temporary flexibilities on Farm Service Agency loans permanent for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bipartisan letter signed by 43 senators urge Perdue to “take action to ensure the continuity of our country’s food supply and support rural areas during the coronavirus." T ...

Lawmakers from Washington and Oregon are urging  the Council on Environmental Quality to extend the initial 45-day comment period for the Snake River Dam draft EIS. Saying the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the Northwest demands the full attention of local and state governments, the lawmakers have asked for an extension so in person, public comments can be accepted. In ...

The National Milk Producers Federation welcomed comments made during a confirmation hearing of President Trump’s nominee to lead the FDA, Stephen Hahn.  Last week’s hearing briefly touched on dairy labeling transparency.  NMPF and others are seeking a labeling system that prohibits plant-based dairy imitators from using dairy marketing terms.  Rules already do so...

On Friday, Senators Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray and Representative Dan Newhouse as well as the rest of the Washington congressional delegation called on the USDA to declare a federal agriculture disaster for 12 counties.  The lawmakers called on Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue to declare counties where crops were damaged or destroyed by unseasonably cold weather.  ...

Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led a group of fellow Democrats in releasing a report on the Trump Administration’s trade policies.  The Report says the administration’s agricultural trade aid program “is picking winners and losers in their attempt to aid farmers affected by President Trump’s turbulent trade agenda.”   The Democrats, whi.

Nine U.S. Senators led by Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow are sharing concern over U.S. trade aid going to foreign companies.  With the administration using up to $1.4 billion to purchase commodities, the group said the USDA is allowing foreign companies to profit from the plan aimed to assist American farmers.  St...