USDA
A USDA adrift in the early days of Trump era?
President-elect Donald Trump has waited so long that, with 10 days left before he takes office, there are rising odds that his nominee for agriculture secretary will get a late and perhaps bumpy start at USDA. Trump interviewed such a wide variety of candidates, from a California winegrower to a food scientist, that it's unclear what his administration will emphasize in its opening days beyond opposition to regulation of agriculture and support for corn ethanol.
Cost of raising a child drops by 5 percent in two years
Thanks to lower expected costs for housing and for childcare and schooling, parents will pay nearly 5 percent less to raise a child born in 2015 to adulthood than if their offspring arrived two years earlier, according to the government. The pricetag is mind-boggling all the same, at $233,610 for recently born children vs $245,340 for children born in 2013.
Miller, a possible USDA pick, would cut school lunch by ‘several billion dollars’
The government is giving away too many meals in the school-lunch program, according to Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in a McClatchy story. An aspirant for U.S. agriculture secretary, Miller said he discussed with President-elect Donald Trump's team a plan to save "several billion dollars" by reforming the lunch program, which was created in 1946 "as a measure of national security, to safeguard the the health and well-being of the nation's children."
Trump ‘down to earth’ and ‘attentive’ in USDA interviews; more aggies visit Trump Tower
Big farmer Kip Tom of Indiana, a member of the Trump agriculture advisory committee, was at Trump Tower in New York for an interview amid conflicting descriptions of President-elect Donald Trump's search for a nominee for agriculture secretary. Elsa Murano said Trump was "down to earth" and "attentive" when he interviewed her for the job 10 days ago.
In longest search since 1933, Trump seeks ideal agriculture secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has interviewed at least six people in the longest-running search for an agriculture secretary since the arrival of the New Deal in 1933, and he still hasn't found the ideal person to help make America great again. "He continues to meet with highly qualified people in the Department of Agriculture," said transition spokesman Sean Spicer during a daily teleconference, saying Trump wants cabinet members "to help make each of these departments operate at their highest efficiency and deliver the best results for the American people."
Will a tangle of details trip up Minnesota buffer-strip law?
Come November, 11 months from now, Minnesota farmers will be required to leave a 50-foot strip of permanent vegetation along waterways to filter runoff from their fields – a landmark conservation effort. However, Minnesota Public Radio says some county officials are asking for a delay because of confusion over how the law is supposed to work and a lack of money for them to enforce it.
Sonny Perdue is leading contender to head USDA
Out of a cavalcade of candidates, Sonny Perdue, the first Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction, is President-elect Donald Trump's leading candidate to become agriculture secretary in what has become the lengthiest selection process in at least 40 years. Perdue would be the second southerner to serve as agriculture secretary in the USDA's 118 years as a cabinet department.
Trump to meet Elsa Murano, ‘a candidate’ for agriculture secretary
Cuban-born Elsa Murano, the top USDA meat safety official during the Bush era and later president of Texas A&M university, will meet President-elect Donald Trump next week as a candidate for agriculture secretary, said the Trump transition team. She would be the first person to meet Trump in nearly a month as a potential USDA nominee and could become the first Texan to lead the department.
Trump looking for ‘absolute most highly qualified, best person’ for USDA
President-elect Donald Trump is flirting with the record for the slowest announcement of a nominee for agriculture secretary in 24 years, but transition spokesman Jason Miller says "the focus is making sure that the president-elect picks the person he wants to go with and that he's comfortable that he's picking the absolute most highly qualified, best person."
USDA awards $225 million for region-spanning conservation projects
Half of the 88 projects selected to receive $225 million in funding for 2017 through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program focus on drought and water quality, says USDA. Private, local and state sources will provide up to $500 million matching funds for the program, which stimulates voluntary soil and water conservation on private land across a landscape.
Rise in interest rates unlikely to affect farmland values, for now
Another USDA possibility emerges, along with a candidate for USTR
Texas rancher Susan Combs, the first woman elected as state agriculture commissioner and a former state comptroller, was to meet Vice President-elect Mike Pence, said the Trump transition team. The move ignited speculation that Combs might be in line for USDA chief.
Trump transition team tells one of its own to ‘back off’ about Sen. Heitkamp
Republican lawyer Gary Baise helped assemble Donald Trump’s agricultural advisory committee last summer. But now he’s been chastised by at least one member of the presidential transition team for his public remarks about Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who Trump is considering for secretary of agriculture.
Idaho governor, first rumored for Interior, is eyed for USDA
The honorary chairman of the Trump campaign in Idaho, third-term Gov. Butch Otter, was mentioned repeatedly as a possible nominee for Interior secretary. Now his spokesman says Otter is in the mix for Agriculture secretary, and Politico cited unnamed sources in saying, "Otter has been to Trump Tower to talk with the transition team about the agriculture secretary position."
Weeks from departure, Obama team revamps fair-play rules in livestock marketing
As quickly as the Obama administration unveiled a package of rules meant to make it easier for livestock producers to prove unfair treatment at the hands of processors and packers, the largest cattle and hog groups called on the incoming Trump administration to blunt their impact.
USDA and VA are last on Trump list for nominees
President-elect Donald Trump has selected 13 of the 15 nominees for the cabinet. "He's been on a tear," says the Washington Post. The remaining slots are secretary of Agriculture and of Veterans Affairs. There hasn't been much talk about USDA since Republican activists objected to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, being considered for the post.
To reduce waste, put ‘Best if used by’ on packages, says USDA
The USDA meat safety agency updated its guidance to foodmakers and retailers to encourage the use of the phrase "Best if used by" on packages that carry a product date. "This new guidance can help consumers save money and curb the amount of wholesome food going in the trash," said Al Almanza, deputy undersecretary for food safety.
Organic farming sector grows larger in new USDA survey
Based on a survey of organic certifying agents, USDA says there are 14,861 organic farms covering 5.3 million acres, a much larger tally than it reported in September when it relied on voluntary responses by producers to its questionnaire. In the September report, USDA cited 12,818 organic farms on 4.36 million acres.
Ten RECs get $4.4 billion in New ERA clean energy funding
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $4.37 billion in grants and loans to 10 rural electric cooperatives on Thursday for clean energy projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.1 million tons a year. With the awards, the USDA has allocated nearly $9 billion of the $9.7 billion available in the Empowering Rural America program.