Rural infrastructure funds: Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh announced $1 billion in USDA loans and grants for 731 healthcare, education and public safety projects in rural America, including $360 million to build a 200-bed hospital in McCalla, Alabama. (USDA)
CRP signup begins: Landowners can apply for the long-term Conservation Reserve Program during a “general” signup, for large tracts of land, from Jan. 31 to March 11. The enrollment period for the CRP’s grassland option will run from April 4 to May 13. (Farm Service Agency)
Viterra buys Gavilon unit: Crop trader Viterra will buy Gavilon’s grain-trading business for $1.1 billion from the Japanese company Marubeni, expanding Viterra’s access to the American market. (Financial Times)
Walker raises millions: Former football star Herschel Walker, a Republican, has raised about $10 million since he announced a run for the U.S. Senate from Georgia. The incumbent, Raphael Warnock, a Democratic member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, had $17.2 million in the bank last fall. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
The rural life: A Pew Research Center study found that the pandemic has had little impact on the portion of Americans who want to live in rural areas — 35 percent in 2021 compared with 36 percent in 2018. (Daily Yonder)