Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a $340 million block grant to Florida on Tuesday to help citrus growers recover from Hurricane Irma, which hit the state just as the fruit was ready for harvest. The grant is part of $2.36 billion in disaster relief approved by Congress to help nine states that suffered hurricane or wildfire damage last year.

President Trump "promised to support home-grown biofuels and Administrator (Scott) Pruitt is breaking that promise," said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on Monday following reports the EPA issued a "hardship" waiver exempting an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn from complying with the ethanol mandate. The biofuels group Growth Energy said the waiver was "just one more example" of EPA "giving refineries everything they want."

The Food and Drug Administration says it has not found illegally high residues of the weedkiller glyphosate in samples of corn, soy, milk or eggs. But informal work by its scientists found residues in an array of commonly consumed food, said the Guardian. The FDA has been testing food for traces of glyphosate for two years and will likely release an official report later this year or in early 2019.

In recent years, vacant land in cities across the country has been colonized by community gardens, giving the often-poor residents access to fresh produce. Now, though, developers of affordable housing are targeting those same empty lots, putting them at odds with the gardeners in communities that need both housing and fresh food, reports FERN's latest story, published with NPR's The Salt. <strong>No paywall</strong>

The member nations of the EU voted for a near-total ban of neonicotinoid insecticides, over the objections of farmers and pesticide manufacturers. Known as neonics, the chemicals are the most widely used class of insecticides in the world and have been linked by scientific studies to the decline in honeybees and other pollinators, said BBC News.

If the House followed the lead of the Republican Study Committee, it would abolish crop and dairy subsidies, slash taxpayer support for crop insurance, phase out the USDA’s two largest soil and water conservation programs, and convert SNAP funding to block grants to states.

For the first time since 1929, a version of the virus that causes foot-and-mouth disease, a highly infectious livestock disease, will be allowed on the U.S. mainland, said the USDA on Thursday.

In the third installment of a five-part investigation into SNAP, Harvest Public Media explores how work requirements, the recertification process, and shame can prevent people with mental illness from accessing crucial nutrition services.

As the National Organic Standards Board opened its semi-annual meeting this week, the USDA announced two appointments to the group’s 15-member board.

Lower prices for tomatoes, potatoes, and apples — three of the four most popular fruits and vegetables sold in America — are helping to hold down food price inflation, according to a government forecast.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue celebrated his first year in office by testifying at a Senate hearing on the rural economy on Tuesday, where he said he would defend the ethanol mandate. "We are very concerned about the waivers" that EPA has granted to some refiners from having to comply with the Renewable Fuel Standard," said Perdue. "We believe that is adequate compensation for the RIN prices."