The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting applications for the Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program and Organic Certification Cost Share Program. The programs help producers and handlers cover the cost of organic certification, along with other related expenses. Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux says, “By helping with organic certification costs – long identified as a barrier to …
USDA Report Indicates Advancing Conservation Trends
We told you back in March that a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report showed the use of no-till, crop rotations, more efficient irrigation methods and advanced technologies have climbed in recent years. The report is from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and it shows how progress was made through voluntary conservation over a 10-year period. The report was developed by USDA’s Conservation …
USDA Updates Livestock Insurance Options to Offer Better Protection, Flexibility
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has updated three key crop insurance options for livestock producers: the Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP), Livestock Gross Margin (LGM), and Livestock Risk Protection (LRP). USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) revised the insurance options to reach more producers, offer greater flexibility for protecting their operations, and ultimately, better meet the needs of the country’s swine, …
USDA Encourages Producers to Enroll Grasslands into Working Land Conservation
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging producers and landowners to enroll in the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Signup ends May 13, 2022.? Grassland CRP, a part of the CRP program, provides a unique opportunity to keep land in agricultural production and supplement your income while improving their soils and permanent grass cover.?? The program had its highest enrollment in history in …
USDA to Provide $50 Million in Support to U.S. Cotton and Wool Apparel Manufacturers Impacted by the Pandemic
(WASHINGTON, May 5, 2022) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a commitment of $50 million to assist eligible apparel manufacturers of worsted wool suits, sport coats, pants, or Pima cotton dress shirts; Pima cotton spinners; and wool fabric manufacturers and wool spinners. The new Cotton and Wool Apparel (CAWA) program is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative and the …
USDA Climate-Smart Commodities Funding Opportunity Deadlines Approaching in Georgia
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Georgia wants to remind partners the deadline to apply for the first round of funding through the new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities is Friday, May 6. This funding pool includes large-scale proposals from $5 million to $100 million that emphasize the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and include direct, meaningful benefits to a representative …
USDA Accepts 2 Million Acres in Offers Through Conservation Reserve Program General Signup
(WASHINGTON, May 3, 2022) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting more than 2 million acres in offers from agricultural producers and landowners through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General signup, the first of the program’s multiple signups occurring in 2022. With about 3.4 million acres expiring this year, Vilsack encourages producers and landowners …
Vilsack Requests Higher USDA Budget
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says his department’s lost thousands of staffers in recent years, and the latest USDA budget request tries to recoup some of those losses. USDA’s fiscal year 2023 budget request of close to 24 billion dollars is up more than 2 billion or 10-percent from this year, and part of that is to make up personnel losses. …
USDA Peanut Planting Projections
With peanut planting underway across the Southeast, Tyron Spearman looks again at the amount of acres that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is forecasting will be planted this season. Sponsored ContentCIR Agriculture Harvester ProductsJuly 1, 2025Nuseed Carinata Covers New GroundOctober 1, 2024TriEst Ag Group: Partners in ProfitabilityApril 1, 2024
USDA Lets More Packing Plants Return to Faster Line Speeds
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service last week announced it approved the Clemens Food Group pork packing plant in Coldwater, Michigan, to run faster line speeds under a one-year trial program. The agency now has let four plants operate with faster harvesting line speeds, which could increase packing capacity and alleviate supply issues in the face of strong pork demand. …