Time is running out for USDA to issue the nearly $10 billion of economic relief payments to farmers. Congress approved a 90-day window to release those payments, and in an exclusive interview with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins Thursday morning, we asked when exactly those payments will be released. Rollins confirmed to Farm Journal that those payments will be released before the current deadline.
Read MoreThe value of production for field crops in Louisiana during 2024 totaled $2.71 billion, down 7 percent from 2023. The top three crop commodities (excluding sugarcane), soybeans, rice, and corn, accounted for 51 percent of the total value of production for field crops.
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins today announced a $1 billion-dollar comprehensive strategy to curb highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), protect the U.S. poultry industry, and lower egg prices. This is in addition to funding already being provided to indemnify growers for depopulated flocks.
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that USDA will release the first tranche of funding that was paused due to the review of funding in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
In alignment with White House directives, Secretary Rollins will honor contracts that were already made directly to farmers. Specifically, USDA is releasing approximately $20 million in contracts for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.
Read MoreSince Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, Brooke Rollins has been focused on how to build the teams and the plans that impact the trajectory of agriculture and rural America. On that day, while en route with her husband and four teenagers in their motorhome to Auburn, Ala., for the Texas A&M football game, she got a call from now President Donald Trump. The purpose of his call: She was his top choice to fill his final significant cabinet position, Secretary of Agriculture.
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins addressed more than 400 USDA staffers, stakeholders and friends and pledged to bring greater efficiency to USDA to ensure it better serves American farmers, ranchers, and the agriculture community. She reviewed findings from the Department of Government Efficiency and welcomes the opportunity to optimize the USDA workforce and stop wasteful spending.
Read MoreThe Trump administration is preparing a plan for combatting avian flu that will move away from depopulating entire infected flocks and rely instead on “biosecurity and medication” to contain outbreaks, says President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday that he has been working on the plan with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and “all the best people in government, including academics around the country and around the world.”
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins delivered opening remarks at the Department of Agriculture to more than 400 USDA employees, stakeholders, and congressional members and staff as they welcomed her to her first full day on the job.
Read MoreBrooke Rollins was sworn in as the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas in a private ceremony today at the Supreme Court building. The U.S. Senate confirmed Rollins by a vote of 72-to-28.
Read MoreAmerican Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on the Senate vote to confirm Brooke Rollins as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
“Farm Bureau congratulates Brooke Rollins on her confirmation to be Secretary of Agriculture. We look forward to her leadership as she takes over USDA at a critical time for America’s farmers and ranchers.”
Read MoreAs the 2025 crop production season begins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact producers nationwide to determine their plans for the upcoming growing season.
“Each spring, the agriculture industry anticipates USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, which provides initial survey-based estimates of U.S. farmers’ planting intentions for the year,” said NASS Louisiana State Statistician Kathy Broussard.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the following statement commending Mexico’s action to declare ineffective measures concerning genetically engineered (GE) corn that the United States successfully challenged in the USMCA dispute. The action safeguards approximately $5.6 billion in U.S. corn exports to Mexico. USDA, in coordination with USTR, will continue to monitor Mexico’s compliance with its USMCA commitments.
Read MoreThe National Organic Program is aware that certifiers and certified operations have received emails from sources pretending to be the USDA. These emails, referred to as phishing emails, have been sent using the following information:
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced loan interest rates for February 2025, which are effective Feb. 3, 2025. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures or meet cash flow needs.
Read MoreThe United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing the resumption of cattle and bison imports from Mexico. Imports are scheduled to resume within the next several days.
To protect U.S. livestock and other animals, APHIS halted shipments of Mexican cattle and bison in November 2024 after a positive detection of New World screwworm (NWS) in southern Mexico.
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