United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday, rolling out new renewable energy funding while defending his use of federal funds to help stimulate both farm income and the rural economy.Vilsack is facing possible limits on his ability to use the $30 billion annual funds USDA receives for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). The fund gives him the latitude to use CCC funds to help farmers market and sell commodities. The Secretary of Agriculture used the fund to spend $3.1 billion on 141 climate-smart grants from USDA over the past year. Now, the GOP House funding bill essentially restricts USDA’s ability to use that fund except for emergencies.
“It’s important for us to keep all of these tools available and flexible,” Vilsack said about USDA programs. Read more