The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is busy preparing what it calls a “major initiative” regarding American shipments of soybeans to China. The USDA will ask soybean farmers to adopt new farming practices to minimize the amount of foreign material that gets harvested with their crops and can end up in exports to China. A program like this will depend …
USDA Talks to Grocers About the “Harvest Box”
The USDA public relations campaign surrounding the harvest box idea has gone before a group of the nation’s biggest grocery suppliers. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says they’re talking with grocers about their role in a proposal to replace some food stamp allocations with prepackaged boxes of groceries. Perdue told reporters last week that grocers are already adding the delivery service …
Perdue Promotes “Harvest Box”
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue wants people who don’t like the idea of “America’s Harvest Box” to know that they are very serious about the idea. He says House Ag Committee Chair Mike Conaway is open to considering a small-scale pilot program in the 2018 Farm Bill. The Secretary has faced a lot of criticism since the proposal came out last …
USDA Seeks Ideas to Help SNAP Participants Become Independent
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it is looking for innovative ideas to promote work and self-sufficiency among able-bodied adults participating in the department’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The public is invited to provide input through a notice in the Federal Register. Comments can be submitted on the web through the Federal Register tomorrow. USDA intends to use …
USDA Opens New Office in Vietnam to Help Facilitate Increasing Agricultural Trade
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently celebrated the opening of its new office in Hanoi, Vietnam. The office will play a vital role in helping expand the United States’ $2.5 billion-dollar agricultural export market in Vietnam. “Growing agricultural trade between the United States and Vietnam means new opportunities for American producers,” said Greg …
USDA Seeking Dismissal of OTA Lawsuit
The Department of Agriculture wants a federal district court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the department’s delay of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule. USDA claims it’s challenger, the Organic Trade Association, “lacks standing because it pleads no facts” in showing the delay has resulted in the suffering of its members because of the USDA action, according to …
Total Number of U.S. Farms Down In 2017
USDA’s latest look at how many farms were in our country reveals a decrease from the previous year. Rod Bain has the details. Total Number of U.S. Farms Down In 2017 Sponsored ContentCIR Agriculture Harvester ProductsNovember 1, 2024Nuseed Carinata Covers New GroundOctober 1, 2024TriEst Ag Group: Partners in ProfitabilityApril 1, 2024
MN Students Want GMO Approval Process Streamlined
A group of graduate students at the University of Minnesota is asking Congress to streamline the approval process for GMO crops that produce food and fiber. A DTN article says the seven students are doing graduate work at the Minnesota College of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resource Sciences. They believe the regulatory hoops that companies need to jump through to …
USDA Helps Dairy and Beef Industries Reach More Domestic and Global Markets
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) made two announcements about its Animal Welfare Assessment Program (AWAP), which offers an independent assessment for industry animal welfare standards and programs. AWAP is a voluntary service for industry organizations that evaluates animal welfare standards for conformance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Specification (TS) 34700 – Animal Welfare …
USDA: Pesticide Residue Levels Show No Risk to Consumers
More than 20 percent of the food sampled by the USDA in 2016 showed no detectable pesticide levels and less than .5 percent of the food had detectable residue levels above limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency. A USDA report titled “What Consumers Should Know” says, again this year, the U.S. food supply is one of the safest in …