The Courts and Competition Policies Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee approved the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 (H.R. 233) by voice vote on Thursday.

The Senate began debate Thursday evening on the FY2010 agriculture appropriations bill, and votes on the bill will begin Monday.

The House approved food safety legislation this week that will dramatically expand Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over all aspects of the food system, but largely exempts grain operations from overly broad records access and traceability standards.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told Senators and the agriculture community this week that USDA analysis shows the economic benefits to agriculture from pending climate change legislation will likely outweigh costs in the short term and will “easily outpace” increased input costs over the long term.

Bayer CropScience announced this week that it is expanding its seeds and traits business to include wheat and, to that end, recently formalized a long-term partnership with CSIRO, Australia’s national research organization and a leading wheat researcher.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said at a hearing this week that he would seek to hold up a pending food safety bill if burdensome regulations affecting on-farm production are not changed.

Colombian wheat buyers and millers told the media, Obama Administration and Hill offices this week that U.S. wheat sales to their country would likely drop by more than 50 percent if a pending free trade agreement isn’t ratified soon.

Monsanto announced this week that it has acquired WestBred, a Bozeman, Mont.-based company with extensive wheat germplasm assets, and will restart the process of eventually bringing biotech capabilities to the wheat market.

The House Agriculture Committee has scheduled a hearing next week to examine food safety issues in the wake of a pending bill that could have wide-ranging effects on even low-risk commodity production.

The appropriations process made strides in both chambers this week as Members aim to have all 12 bills finalized by the end of the federal government’s fiscal year, Sept. 30 – a rarity in recent years.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and three other cabinet-level members of the Obama Administration testified before the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee this week on pending climate change legislation.

The Sixth Circuit Court denied this week an agriculture coalition request for rehearing of a decision concluding pesticide discharge is a point source of pollution subject to additional regulation and permitting under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

A plantings report issued by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) this week showed all wheat area is estimated to be down 5 percent in 2009 from 2008.

Vice President Joe Biden joined USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski in Erie, Penn., this week to announced funding for broadband initiatives and kick off the first stop of an Obama Administration “rural tour”.