The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the availability of funding to help eligible veterinarians offset a significant portion of the debt incurred in pursuit of their veterinary medicine degrees in return for their service in certain high-priority veterinary shortage situations. Funding is made through NIFA’s Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP), authorized …
EPA, Army Corps, Sign WOTUS Delay
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has signed an order to block the Waters of the U.S. Rule. A hold of the rule placed in 2015 will soon be lifted by a federal appeals court following the Supreme Court ruling that says jurisdiction of the rule lies in federal district courts, not appeals courts. Pruitt appeared at the National …
Commerce Secretary Ross: NAFTA Talks Far from Over
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC that the North American Free Trade Agreement re-negotiations are “far from being completed.” While noting that progress was made on easier provisions, he says “very little has been done on the hard issues,” including automotive trade and agriculture. Ross says President Trump could still choose to withdrawal from the agreement, saying a final renegotiated …
USDA Launches MARS
Delivering Market Data to Agricultural Producers Around the Globe Faster and Easier The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the launch of a new electronic data platform to deliver market price information to the commodities industry. The new web-based platform, Market Analysis and Reporting Services (MARS), uses state-of-the-art technology to present detailed data sets in a …
House Ag Democrat: No Farm Bill Better than Bad Farm Bill
House Agriculture Committee Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts says he would “rather have no farm bill this year than a lousy farm bill.” McGovern told the Hagstrom Report that he has not seen the House draft of the farm bill, but that he would work to defeat the bill if he does not like it, in hopes for a better …
Florida Ag Policy Conference to Help Growers Deal With the Ever-Changing Global Economy
In light of the competitive and dynamic global economy, experts from UF/IFAS and other organizations will share knowledge about how to deal with pressures facing growers in Florida at the third annual Florida Agricultural Policy Conference. The conference will be held Feb. 21 at the UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka, Florida. Whether it’s trade agreements, labor, water …
Trump Says U.S. Open to TPP, If Better Deal Negotiated
President Donald Trump has left the door open to rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership through comments in a recent speech. However, the now TPP 11 countries may not be as welcoming, forging ahead to sign an agreement in March. Addressing the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last week, Trump said of the TPP nations, the U.S. would consider negotiating with them …
USDA Helped Improve Essential Services for 7 Million Rural Residents in 2017
Funding Supports Schools, Libraries, Municipal Centers, First Responder Vehicles and Equipment, Other Community Needs Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that USDA invested in nearly 400 projects to provide essential services for more than 7 million people in rural areas across the country in Fiscal Year 2017. “Partnering with our small towns and cities to support essential services that rural residents …
Perdue Announces USDA’s Farm Bill and Legislative Principles for 2018
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Bill and Legislative Principles for 2018 during a town hall at Reinford Farms in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. “Since my first day as the Secretary of Agriculture, I’ve traveled to 30 states, listening to the people of American agriculture about what is working and what is not. The conversations …
USDA Appoints 11 New Members and Alternates to National Peanut Board
Broad range of peanut industry and community involvement marks 2018 appointees Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue recently appointed five members and six alternates to serve on the National Peanut Board. The appointees will serve three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2018, and ending Dec. 31, 2020. One appointee, the Texas alternate, will serve the remaining one-year portion of a vacancy. The members …