…$1.9 billion, or 3.1 percent, relative to 2016. USDA says the stronger forecast growth in net cash income is largely due to an additional $9.7 billion in cash receipts from…
Crop Insurance Industry Responds to GOA Report
…adjust the expected rate of return for crop insurance. In 2010, USDA negotiated with insurance companies to set a 14.5 percent target rate. According to GAO’s analysis, the reasonable rate…
AFBF Submits Comments on Bioengineered Disclosure Standard
…last year and gave USDA two years to come up with a rule by July 2018. AFBF congressional relations director Andrew Walmsley says the USDA rule must not confuse consumers…
Raisin Growers Must ‘Opt-in’ to Class Action Lawsuit
…Reserve Class Action. Bob F. Hansen and other family members originally filed the class action lawsuit on August 26, 2015, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the USDA raisin…
Pork Industry Pressing for FMD Vaccine Bank in 2018 Farm Bill
…take months. Former Pork Producers’ President John Weber Former Pork Producers’ President John Weber For now, Pork Producers wants USDA to contract for an offshore vaccine bank that can protect…
Pacific Region Cattle on Feed August Report
…head, 9 percent below July 2016. Other disappearance totaled 3,000 head during July, 40 percent below July 2016. Read the full USDA Pacific Region August 2017 Cattle on Feed Report….
Quarantine for Citrus Disease Huanglongbing Extends to Portions of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties
Local residents asked to help prevent spread The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have established a 94-square mile quarantine in…
Low Education Rural Counties Worse Off than Higher Education Rural Counties
New data announced by the Department of Agriculture shows that rural counties with low education levels have worse economic outcomes than other rural counties. USDA’s Economic Research Service classifies 467…
Urban Agriculturalists Hoping for Beneficial Legislation
…establish an Office of Urban Agriculture within the Department of Agriculture and make urban agriculture activities eligible for funding from USDA programs. The bill, introduced by Democrat Debbie Stabenow, was…
GAO Recommends Lowering Crop Insurance Expected Rate of Return
The Government Accountability Office is recommending that Congress considers directing the Department of Agriculture to adjust the expected rate of return for crop insurance. In 2010, USDA negotiated a set…
Disease Resistant Strawberry Research Gets Funding Boost
…varieties in the pipeline and plan to release one or two new strawberry varieties later this year. Initiative collaborators The grant is funded by USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative. Collaborators…
New Food Labeling Regulation in Development by USDA Should Not Disparage Biotechnology, Mislead Consumers
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prepares to develop a regulatory standard for the labeling of bioengineered food ingredients, it must ensure that consumers receive clear, accurate information about…
Swine Disease Monitoring System in Development
…the pork industry. The system is a collaborative project between the University of Minnesota and USDA/APHIS Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health. Swine Health Information Center Executive Director Paul Sundberg…
Stabenow Supports Call to Withdraw Clovis Nomination
Clovis Democrats Charles Schumer of New York and Brian Schatz of Hawaii called for President Trump to withdraw the nomination of Sam Clovis as USDA Undersecretary for Research, Education, and…