USDA is strengthening the department’s Organic Enforcement final rule. The update to USDA organic regulations strengthens oversight and enforcement of the production, handling, and sale of organic products. The final rule implements 2018 Farm Bill mandates, responds to industry requests for updates to the USDA organic regulations, and addresses National Organic Standards Board recommendations. USDA…… MORE
Category Archives: Agriculture News
New Poultry Production Robot
Cumberland, AGCO’s poultry production equipment brand, is introducing Scout, the world’s first ceiling-suspended robot system. The system continuously monitors broiler chickens and their poultry house environments to increase animal welfare as well as farm productivity. Scott Becker, director of North America sales for Cumberland, says, “With Scout, producers can achieve better feed conversion, early disease…… MORE
USDA Releases Crop Supply And Demand Report
This month’s U.S. corn outlook calls for reduced production, food, seed, and industrial use, feed and residual use, exports, and ending stocks. Corn production is estimated at 13.730 billion bushels, down 200 million. Exports were reduced 150 million bushels to 1.925 billion, reflecting the slow pace of shipments through December, and the lowest level of…… MORE
Equipment Sales Mixed in 2022
Combine harvester sales finished 2022 with healthy gains in unit sales while ag tractors finished below 2021 levels in both the U.S. and Canada. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers says total U.S. ag tractor unit sales fell during December and the whole year when compared with 2021. The sub-40 horsepower segment led losses in both…… MORE
Updated Guidelines for Poultry Care
The National Chicken Council developed the NCC Broiler Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist in 1999. The goal was to help poultry producers show consumers that all of the birds were being treated with respect and properly cared for during their lives. NCC recently published its 2023 update of the NCC Broiler Welfare Guidelines, which are…… MORE
USDA Offers More Help To Farmers
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced several major developments at the USDA that will help benefit farmers and ranchers across the nation. Speaking at the AFBF annual convention in Puerto Rico, Vilsack said they want to provide all farmers with the opportunities they need to continue farming, build and maintain their competitive edge, and access more,…… MORE
More Farmers Planting Cover Crops
Cover crops are an increasingly popular management practice among many U.S. farmers. The goal is to provide seasonal living cover between their primary commodity cash crops. Farmers plant those cover crops in the fall to provide winter cover for soil that otherwise would be bare. The USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey says over the past…… MORE
Farmer Outlook Rebounds
Producer sentiment improved sharply in December as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer Index reading of 126 was 24 points higher than a month earlier. Although U.S. farmers were more positive regarding both the current situation and the future, the biggest improvement was in their assessment of current conditions. The Current Conditions Index reached…… MORE
EPA Finalizes WOTUS Definition
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced a final rule establishing the definition of “Waters of the United States.” EPA says the rule reduces uncertainty from consistently changing regulatory definitions, protects people’s health, and supports economic opportunity. The final rule also according to the EPA, restores essential water protections that were…… MORE
More Seasonal Workers
It’s well known that American agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers can fill seasonal farm jobs with temporary foreign workers through the H-2A Visa Program. The Department of Labor officially certified approximately 317,000 temporary jobs in fiscal year 2021 under the H-2A program. That number was more than six times the number…… MORE
