Washington DC -June 7- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA is awarding funds to tribes, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations throughout the country to conduct training, outreach and technical assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

To read more, CLICK HERE

Washington DC -April 30- Losses of managed honey bee colonies nationwide totaled 33.8 percent from all causes from October 2009 to April 2010, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

To read more, CLICK HERE

Washington DC -April 28– Focusing on the needs of rural America, Senate Democrats and former President Bill Clinton, held a rural summit on Capitol Hill to discuss solutions to address the challenges facing rural areas in the United States.

To read more, CLICK HERE

Washington DC -April 28- “The findings from the 2007 National Resources Inventory (NRI) serve as a stark reminder that our nation’s agricultural land base—and the benefits it supplies—is threatened by poorly planned development,” says Jon Scholl, President of American Farmland Trust (AFT).

To read more, CLICK HERE

Washington DC -April 20- The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is launching its latest campaign to collect information about farmers markets for the 2010 USDA National Farmers Market Directory, the official count of the nation’s farmers markets.

To read more, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 15 - Senators from two leading dairy states, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), are heading a new effort to urge USDA actions to ease the dairy price crisis that continues to squeeze the nation’s dairy farmers.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 9 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the presence of Guignardia citricarpa, or citrus black spot, in Florida. Citrus black spot causes early fruit drop, reduces crop yield and renders the highly blemished fruit unmarketable.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 9 - The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report provides USDA’s comprehensive forecasts of supply and demand for major U.S. and global crops and U.S. livestock.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 8 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack helped commemorate the 50th anniversary of a 1959 “hog lift” in which Iowa farmers sent 36 hogs to Yamanashi Prefecture after Japan suffered major livestock losses caused by two destructive typhoons.

For more on this story, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 8 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring new restrictions on aluminum and magnesium phosphide products to better protect people, especially children, from dangerous exposures.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 8 - Ethanol production is an unparalleled economic engine in hundreds of small communities all across America. But tens of thousands of the jobs ethanol helps support are in peril if Congress fails to extend key tax incentives.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 8 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the availability of approximately $25 million in fiscal year 2010 to fund projects designed to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies through its Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) in fiscal year 2010.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 7 - The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Coalition for Responsible Regulation, Inc. (“the Coalition”) filed a Petition challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent rule interpreting when greenhouse gases (GHGs) become subject to the federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit program.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 7 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack delivered the keynote address at the Partners in Agriculture Global Food Security Symposium sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE

Washington DC - April 7 - United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that the United States and Brazil have agreed upon a path toward a negotiated settlement with Brazil over the Cotton dispute.

To read the entire report, CLICK HERE