The Department of Agriculture announced 15 organizations will receive funding through the Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says, “The grant recipients today will help us provide relief payments to workers across the country who kept food moving to our families during an especially challenging time.” The program, administered by…… MORE
Category Archives: Agriculture News
Dairy Consumption Is Rising
The USDA’s annual report on per-capita dairy consumption saw a rise in domestic dairy demand. The level of demand rose from 655 pounds per person in 2020 to 667 pounds per person last year. That’s a total not seen since 1960, when it was 659 pounds, and is approaching 1959’s consumer total of 672 pounds.…… MORE
EPA Asked To Put WOTUS on Pause
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association called on the Environmental Protection Agency to pause their Waters of the United States rulemaking. The action follows Monday’s Supreme Court oral arguments in the case Sackett v. EPA, a case that will determine the EPA’s authority to regulate bodies of water under the Clean Water Act. NCBA’s Kaitlynn Glover…… MORE
National Dairy Organization Concerned About Foreign Infant Formula
The National Milk Producers Federation says the temporary, short-term lifting of restrictions on infant formula imports to address the rare infant formula shortage is a positive move to fill the supply gap. “We did not oppose the just-passed Bulk Infant Formula to Retail Shelves Act given its targeted volume and limited time frame,” says NMPF…… MORE
Smithfield to Pay $75 Million to Settle Price-Fixing Suit
Smithfield Foods agreed to pay $75 million to settle a price-fixing lawsuit. Reuters says consumers accused the meat producer and several competitors of conspiring to inflate prices in the U.S. pork market by limiting supply. Smithfield spokesman Jim Monroe says the company denied liability in settling, and that the accord reduces the distraction, risk, and…… MORE
FARM BUREAU RESPONDS TO SIGNING OF AB 2183
California Farm Bureau issued a news release with President Jamie Johansson’s response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of Assembly Bill 2183. That bill is a legislative expansion of union rights for farmworkers. But Johansson says “The California Farm Bureau is deeply disappointed in Governor Newsom’s decision to sign the misguided union organizing legislation, Assembly Bill…… MORE
USDA Offers Grants To Increase Domestic Fertilizer Production
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the $500 million in grants, intended to spur competition in the fertilizer sector and combat price hikes on U.S. farmers. The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program is part of a government-wide effort to promote competition in agricultural markets. The Commodity Credit Corporation grants will support independent, innovative and sustainable American fertilizer…… MORE
Court Reinstates Modernized Endangered Species Rules
Modernized Endangered Species Act regulations will be reinstated after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a district court improperly vacated 2019 revisions. The appeals court found that the district court erred by reversing the regulations without determining whether they were actually unlawful. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall says they appreciate the ruling…… MORE
Off-farm Income Increasingly Important
A new study shows increasing dependence on off-farm employment and income reveals the growing economic interconnection of rural communities and surrounding cities. According to a study by researchers at the University of Missouri, 82 percent of U.S. farm household income now comes from off-farm sources. The study was commissioned by CoBank and completed in partnership…… MORE
Bill Would Reduce Trucking Regulations
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would remove government regulations in the trucking industry, according to Senator Mike Rounds. The South Dakota Republican introduced the Trucking Regulations Unduly Constricting Known Service-providers, or TRUCKS Act. Rounds says the regulations are burdensome to agriculture, school districts and trucking companies. In 2012, then-President Obama signed into law legislation…… MORE
