Vaden for deputy secretary: President-elect Trump said he would nominate Stephen Vaden, a member of his USDA landing team in 2017 who later was head of USDA’s legal shop, for Agriculture deputy secretary in his second term. (Trump)
Producer got $215 million: USDA provided financial assistance to an average 1 million producers annually from fiscal 2019-23 in amounts ranging from a few dollars a year to $215.2 million to a single producer from crop insurance in 2022. (Government Accountability Office)
Americans eat less fruit: Per capita U.S. consumption of fruit has decreased by 20 percent since the late 1990s and early 2000s, and a growing share of the population — 40 percent of adults and 29 percent of children — consumes little or no fruit a day. (USDA)
Three new bird flu cases: Tests confirmed bird flu infections of two dairy farmworkers in California and a Wisconsin resident who was exposed to an infected poultry flock, raising the U.S. total to 64 people this year. (Centers for Disease Control)
USDA aids distressed borrowers: More than 12,800 distressed borrowers will receive $300 million in assistance on USDA direct and guaranteed loans; it was the final installment of $2.5 billion in aid, authorized in the 2022 climate law, that reached nearly 48,000 borrowers. (USDA)