DeSantis Calls for Special Session

(Tallahassee/NSF/October 21, 2021) — Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday called for a special legislative session next month to push back against White House attempts to require workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The exact dates of the special session are not yet known; however, lawmakers are scheduled to be in Tallahassee for committee meetings the weeks of November 1st, 15th …

Legislation Introduced to Provide Pricing Leverage for Cattle Producers

Wednesday, Ranking Member of the Livestock & Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee Dusty Johnson (R-S.D) and Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) introduced the bipartisan Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021 (H.R. 5609), which would create a library for cattle contracts within the USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service. Currently, USDA maintains a pork contract library, and following significant volatility in the cattle market and the release of the …

Bill Introduced to Combat Chronic Wasting Disease

This week, Republican Leader of the House Agriculture Committee Glenn “GT” Thompson and Representative Ron Kind of Wisconsin introduced a bipartisan bill to combat chronic wasting disease (CWD). CWD is a contagious, neurological disease affecting deer, elk and moose and it is always fatal. There is no known cure for CWD and it is unclear how the disease is transmitted. …

Recycle Those Halloween Pumpkins After the Holiday

What to do with your Halloween pumpkins after the holiday is over.  That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.  Every year, thousands of pumpkins get tossed in the trash – adding up to about 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins ending up in landfills.  That’s according to the U.S. Department of Energy. But there are plenty of ways to recycle …

Commissioner Nikki Fried on TS Elsa Secretarial Disaster Designation for Three Florida Counties

(Tallahassee, FL/October 20, 2021) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has informed Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) that it has granted a Secretarial disaster designation in several counties in Georgia and Florida due to losses caused by Tropical Storm Elsa, excessive wind, and excessive rainfall that occurred on July 7, 2021. With this designation, impacted producers …

New Appointments for USDA Positions

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced a few new appointments for positions in the Southeast. Tyron Spearman has the story. Sponsored ContentCIR Agriculture Harvester ProductsJuly 1, 2026FL Cattle Enhancement Board Wraps up Funding YearJune 30, 2026Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Awarded Researcher Discusses New World Screwworm OverviewJune 19, 2026Verdant Robotics Offers Growers Targeted Application of Herbicides or Beneficials through SharpShooter™June …

Ag Groups Formally Object to EPA Chlorpyrifos Rule

This week, more than 80 agricultural groups filed formal objections to the Environmental Protection Agency’s August 30 rule to revoke all tolerances of chlorpyrifos. Stakeholders can object to pesticide tolerance changes or cancellations, and the EPA Administrator must then respond. In the coalition letter, the agriculture sector cited numerous concerns with EPA’s revocation decision, including the processes EPA used and …

Tricks for Picking the Best Pumpkin This Year

Some tricks for picking the best pumpkin this year. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.  With so many pumpkin varieties and characteristics, it’s hard to tell which pumpkin is the best bang for your buck. You could just grab whatever’s at the grocery store, but you’ll get a fresher and more interesting selection at a pumpkin farm. Just like when buying …