Supplemental Disaster Relief Program

USDA Announces Additional Supplemental Disaster Relief Program Payments

US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced late last week that the USDA will be issuing a second payment under the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program to eligible producers. The payment will be available to those producers who have approved applications for losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024. Secretary Rollins said, “President Trump is the most pro-farmer President …

texas

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Issues Emergency Rule To Address NWS

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson issued an emergency rule late last week that put temporary restrictions on the importation of animals from five counties in South Texas. The movement restrictions are being put in place now that the latest detections of New World Screwworm are within 125 miles of the border. These restrictions require all animals imported into Florida …

ncba

NCBA Holds 2026 Legislative Conference in Washington DC

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association held the 2026 Legislative Conference last week in Washington D.C. where cattle producers and state affiliates from across the country met with their legislators. NCBA President Gene Copenhaver said, “NCBA’s Legislative Conference is where grassroots policy meets action. Our members traveled to Washington to share real-world perspectives from their operations and reinforce why strong, commonsense …

texas

NCBA Recommends Biosecurity Preparedness In The Event of NWS Detection

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is recommending that cattle producers refamiliarize themselves with biosecurity plans ahead of any detection of New World Screwworm and we caught up with Sigrid Johannes with NCBA to learn more. Johannes said, “From a preparation standpoint, is just familiarize yourself with your state animal health official’s resources on anything about movement requirements, but also just basic …

Georgia Peanut commission

Georgia Peanut Commission Approves Research Project Funding

The Georgia Peanut Commission, based in Tifton, has approved $764,000 in research project funding for the 2025-26 research budget year. This action was taken during the Commission’s March board meeting. The research projects approved included 40 project proposals submitted from the University of Georgia, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and USDA’s Ag Research Service. According to Joe Botifer, the chairman of that research committee, our …

Georgia Cattlemen’s Association

Georgia Cattlemen’s Association Hosts Annual Convention at Perry This Week

The Georgia Cattlemen’s Association will be hosting their annual convention this weekend at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry. We caught up with David Huddleston, President-Elect of GCA to learn more. Huddleston said, “We have set a schedule that’s very in tune to our educational matters. Like I said, within three Cattlemen’s College events, we have Curt Lacy coming in …

Screwworm

NCBA Recommends Producer Take Proactive Step To Secure Premise ID

With the potential for New World Screwworm to enter the United States, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is recommending producers take the proactive step of securing a premise identification number. We caught up with Sigrid Johannes to learn more. “Another thing that you could do right now to get prepared if you’re again in that southern part of the United States …

Cotton Jassid’s Absence Positive News for Georgia Growers

By Clint Thompson The cotton jassid has been noticeably absent in recent months. That is positive news for Georgia’s cotton growers who are on the cusp of planting this year’s crop. “We’ve been looking and cannot find them right now. We’ve been monitoring sticky cards, we’ve got potted cotton plants out, we’ve looked at winter weeds, and we can’t find …

corn

USDA Provides Updated Progress of Corn and Soybean Planting

While drought conditions are keeping some growers out of the fields, growers in other parts of the country have made progress on this year’s planting. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey provides an update on corn planting so far this season.  â€śGetting into the state numbers, Tennessee is showing some remarkable progress again this week. 64 percent of the corn acreage planted, …

New World Screwworm playbook

NCBA’s Take On New World Screwworm Revised Playbook Release

Now that the USDA has released the revised New World Screwworm Playbook (.pdf), we caught up with Sigrid Johannes with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to get their impressions of the playbook. “We’re extremely encouraged, frankly, by this second draft and this second round of documents we’ve seen out from USDA. I think when the first draft of the playbook and …