The House of Representatives passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill late Friday; the legislation had already passed the Senate in August, so the package will go to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The just passed bill includes several provisions of interest to agriculture:

$2 billion in appropriated money for the USDA Rural Development/Rural Utilities Service for rural broadband, and $65 billion overall for the Department of Commerce for broadband development with certain incentives for rural areas

$918 million for additional research initiatives at NIFA

$17 billion dedicated to ports and inland waterways upgrades and maintenance

The bill also includes some “regular order” reauthorization...