USDA
USDA offers $280 million for renewable energy projects
The USDA announced $280 million is available in loans and grants through its Renewable Energy Assistance Program (REAP) for farmers and rural business owners to buy and install renewable energy systems, or to improve the energy efficiency of...
U.S. farm income to plummet by one-third in 2015
U.S. farm income will drop to its lowest level in six years under the weight of sharply lower crop prices and a plunge in milk prices, according to a forecast from the Agriculture Department. Net farm income, which reflects earnings from production in the current calendar year, would fall by 32 percent from 2014 levels. The USDA said another measure of the farm sector, net cash farm income, would slump by 22 percent, a smaller decline because it includes revenue from stocks carried over from last year.
USDA opens review of federal milk pricing system
The Agriculture Department announced a once-a-decade review of the milk marketing-order system, to see if the system, in use for decades, "should be continued without change, amended, or rescinded."
More cattle and hogs to ease meat squeeze
U.S. cattle, hog and poultry producers are expanding production, the government said in forecasting a sharp 3-percent increase in per-capita meat consumption this year. In its monthly WASDE report, the Agriculture Department raised its forecast of meat production by more than 1 billion pounds for this year. It estimated that the average American would consume 208.5 pounds of beef, pork and poultry in 2015, the equivalent of 9 ounces a day.
USDA announces $30 million for citrus greening research
The Agriculture Department awarded $53 million for research to help growers combat citrus greening, a devastating plant disease, and to search for a way to prevent it.
California dairies ask to join federal milk order
The three largest dairy cooperatives in California, unhappy with their statewide milk-pricing plan, petitioned the USDA to create a milk marketing order for the state, according to the news site Dairy Herd Management.
Obama plan gives food safety to HHS, ends USDA meat role
President Obama has proposed creating a new agency at the Health and Humans Services Department that would consolidate the food-safety activities of FDA and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. "The new agency would be charged with pursuing a modern, science-based food safety regulatory regime drawing on best practices of both agencies, with strong enforcement and recall mechanisms, expertise in risk assessment, and enforcement and research efforts across all food types based on...
Cattle herds may expand for the rest of this decade
The upturn in U.S. cattle numbers "is likely to continue for multiple years," writes Chris Hurt of Purdue in an analysis of the USDA's semi-annual Cattle inventory report.
Crop insurance cut of 17% is proposed in USDA budget
Two crop insurance reforms would cut the cost of the federally subsidized program by about 17 percent under the fiscal 2016 budget proposed for the Agriculture Department. The program is a routine target for cuts, most of which are rejected. This time, the administration proposed a lower premium subsidy for so-called revenue policies based on prices at harvest time, and reforms to prevented-planting coverage. Together, the changes would save $16 billion over 10 years.
Nunnelee dies, was on House panel for USDA funding
Mississippi Rep. Alan Nunnelee, a fiscal and social conservative who was the second-ranking Republican on House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, died on Friday at age 56, only a few weeks into his third term in Congress.
Dual-herbicide seeds to be Monsanto’s biggest GE launch
After a decade of development, Monsanto anticipates its genetically engineered Xtend soybean and cotton varieties will be its "largest biotech trait launch...with six times the number of varieties" that it offered in a previous set of GE strains.
USDA expects uptick in school lunch participation number
A program that provides free school meals to all pupils in high-poverty neighborhoods will be the main driver in boosting participation in the school lunch and school breakfast program, says the Agriculture Department. In its proposed budget for fiscal 2016, USDA forecasts average lunch participation of 30.3 million students daily, up 100,000 from the current year, and school breakfast of 14.6 million students daily, up 600,000.
First increase in U.S. cattle inventory in eight years
The U.S. cattle inventory is up for the first time since 2007, an indication of the long-awaited turn-around in herd numbers. In its semi-annual Cattle report, USDA said there were 89.8 million cattle and calves in the country on Jan 1, up 1 percent from the previous year.
More than a third of winter wheat is in drought
Some 37 percent of the winter wheat area, mainly the southern Plains, mid-South and inland sections of the Pacific Northwest, is under drought, says a monthly summary by USDA chief meteorologist Brad Rippey.
Moran, overseer of USDA funds, has $1.4 mln for campaign
Kansas Republican Jerry Moran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, has $1.4 million in cash in his campaign fund, said Roll Call.
Roberts says regulatory overkill is top Ag Committee issue
Chairman Pat Roberts says the big issue confronting the Senate Agriculture Committee is "regulatory overkill we are experiencing with every agency" and particularly with the EPA. Roberts mentioned regulatory reform twice while listing committee priorities for this session. "We've got a lot of priorities," he said, citing reauthorization of the CFTC, the mandatory livestock price reporting law, and child nutrition programs - "big time." Regulatory reform, he said, "seems to be the big thing" in farm country.
Obama seeks $1.2 billion to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria
"The Obama administration wants to double the amount of federal funding dedicated to combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria," says the Washington Post, based on comments from White House officials in advance of the fiscal 2016 budget request.
U.S., China agree to open their borders to apple imports
China agreed to open its market to imports of all varieties of U.S.-grown apples, a step thatUSDA said could expand apple exports, worth $1 billion in 2013, by 10 percent.