USDA
‘No sugarcoating’ sharp cuts at USDA, Perdue says
The Agriculture Department would lose more than 5 percent of its workforce under President Trump's proposals to slash crop insurance and food stamps, to down-size conservation programs and to eliminate many rural development programs, said USDA officials. "There's no sugarcoating what we will face," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Assistant secretary, or assistant to the secretary? Does it matter?
When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he would have a high-powered associate "sitting next to me, with walk-in privileges," focused on rural economic development, he said the new executive would be an assistant secretary. Actually, the job will be "assistant to the secretary," said a USDA spokesman, in arguing the title doesn't matter when you interact daily with a cabinet secretary.
Perdue says he’ll put a ‘go-to person’ in charge of rural development
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told lawmakers he wants an active hand in rural economic development — an element of his reorganization of USDA — but he'll put "a go-to person" in charge of running the programs. "That person will be Senate confirmed in that area," as an assistant secretary, said Perdue; a post that small-farm advocates say will be inferior to the undersecretary now in charge.
Field of candidates for USDA posts becoming clearer
The White House has settled on Steve Censky, a top foreign trade official at the USDA before becoming a farm group executive, for the No. 2 job at the department, according to published reports.
Time to double research funding for organic farming, say lawmakers
Funding would more than double, to $50 million a year, for research to boost organic agricultural production under a bill proposed by three members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Farm groups oppose end to USDA’s rural development office
Fearing the demotion of rural economic concerns and harm to their communities, rural and farm groups urged leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to oppose the USDA’s plan to eliminate the Office of Under Secretary for Rural Development.
Perdue unveils plan to reorganize USDA’s rural, farm and trade wings
Two weeks into the job, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue proposed today the first reorganization of USDA since 1994, a rapid start to President Trump's instructions to the cabinet to increase federal efficiency. The Perdue package creates a new position, undersecretary for trade; abolishes the undersecretary for rural development so Perdue would directly oversee economic development programs; and puts one undersecretary in charge of farm subsidies and land stewardship, responsibilities now split between two undersecretaries.
Huzzahs for new USDA trade office, qualms about stewardship and rural development
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue unveiled a USDA reorganization that would take effect in mid-June, highlighted by creation of a high-level office to promote U.S. farm exports, with President Trump's call for a smaller and more efficient government still on the docket. Small-farm advocates said rural economic development was downgraded by Perdue's package "in favor of boosting international trade."
What will the USDA budget mean for local food?
The release of a President’s budget proposal triggers a lengthy sausage-making process. As we continue examining the 2018 skinny budget proposal released by the Trump White House earlier this spring, it’s important to keep that in mind: the final 2018 budget will probably not look a lot like the President’s proposal, if history is any guide.
Crop tour estimates 40-percent plunge in Kansas wheat output
Kansas farmers sharply scaled back winter wheat sowings because of low market prices, assuring a smaller crop this year than last. Now disease, snowfall, and freeze damage this spring are dragging prospects down even further.
U.S. beef in Brazil for first time since 2003
Last August, Brazil said it would remove barriers to U.S. beef that were imposed in 2003 to prevent mad cow disease. Nine months later, the first shipment of fresh U.S. beef has cleared customs for sale to Brazilian consumers.
USDA shuts off continuous enrollment option for Conservation Reserve
The Conservation Reserve Program, which pays landowners to take fragile land out of production, is so close to its enrollment limit that the USDA will not admit high-priority land that ordinarily could be enrolled at once.
Huge organic dairy farm may fall short of USDA standards
Mammoth farms can illustrate “critical weaknesses in the unorthodox inspection system that the Agriculture Department uses to ensure that ‘organic’ food really is organic,” says a report by the Washington Post.
Two Midwesterners in contention for No. 2 at USDA
Indiana mega-farmer Kip Tom and Iowa agriculture secretary Bill Northey "seem to be the top contenders" for deputy agriculture secretary, says Politico, with sources saying talk of Northey for the job "has been increasing in recent days." After the agricultural roundtable with President Trump on Tuesday, Northey said he had not been offered any USDA position but would consider it if offered, said Iowa Farmer Today.
‘I don’t cage too well,’ folksy Perdue tells USDA employees
In his first hour at his new workplace, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue took off his coat and tie and rolled up his sleeves, telling USDA employees at a welcoming ceremony, "I was a farmer first." During a 20-minute speech, Perdue repeatedly likened USDA to a family and said he might roam USDA's mammoth headquarters complex, covering three city blocks, to drop in offices and learn the details of agricultural programs.
Perdue races into action after overwhelming Senate confirmation
Newly minted Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's first day on the job will be a busy one, following the 87-11 confirmation vote in the Senate that ended more than three months of waiting. Perdue scheduled a start-of-the-workday speech to USDA employees this morning and is to join President Trump for an agricultural roundtable discussion at the White House in the afternoon.
Organic standards board discusses, doesn’t vote on, ‘Is hydroponic organic?’
At its three-day spring meeting in Denver, the National Organic Standards Board delayed, until fall at the earliest, a decision on whether hydroponic crops should be classified as organic production, said The Packer magazine. As a result, "hydroponics will be considered organic for a while longer," as they have for 15 years.
A sea of issues await Perdue when he walks in the door at USDA
Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is hours away from becoming U.S. agriculture secretary, with the Senate expected to confirm the nomination by a solid majority this evening. Perdue will enter the job on a tide of goodwill and risks inundation by a flood of issues from budget cuts and agricultural trade to expanded subsidies for cotton and dairy producers.