The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently completed a study that analyzed serum samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). Results of the study indicate that certain white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania were exposed to SARS-CoV-2.
Read MoreUSDA's Farm Service Agency is the most directly linked to farmers often administering payments and providing other support for farmers. And lately the service has been busy.
In this episode of the Around Farm Progress podcast, Jacqui Fatka, policy editor, Farm Progress, talks with Zach Ducheneaux, administrator of FSA. This is a wide-ranging conversation from pandemic-related indemnity payments to issues surrounding the lingering drought.
Read MoreHow will this year’s weather conditions affect crop production? The Monthly Agricultural Yield Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey U.S. farmers beginning July 30, 2021, regarding yields of the major row crops and hay, as well as hay stocks throughout the growing season across the United States.
Read MoreAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack named Daniel Whitley the new administrator of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Whitley has served as the agency’s acting administrator since December 2020 and a staffer at the agency for 20 years. As administrator he will oversee personnel in nearly 100 U.S. embassies consulates, and international organizations around the world and collectively providing representation across 180 countries.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing up to $200 million to provide relief to timber harvesting and timber hauling businesses that have experienced losses due to COVID-19 as part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative. Loggers and truckers can apply for assistance through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) July 22 through Oct. 15, 2021. The Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers program (PATHH) is administered by FSA in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reminding producers and landowners that the signup deadline for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) current general signup is fast approaching. Eligible producers must submit their offers by July 23, 2021.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) made several changes to CRP to make it more appealing to all producers, including those who are historically underserved, beginning, and veterans. FSA added incentives to encourage producers to include climate-smart agricultural practices in their operations to increase natural resource and environmental benefits.
Read MoreLivestock producers who had to euthanize animals during the pandemic will receive payments based on 80% of the fair market value, according to new details of the Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program unveiled on July 13 by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Eligible livestock and poultry include swine, chickens and turkeys, but pork producers are expected to be the primary recipients of the assistance.
Read MoreA federal judge in Tennessee has ruled in favor of a Tennessee farmer, granting an injunction against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its effort to grant federal loan forgiveness to only “non-whites.” The Southeastern Legal Foundation and the Mountain States Legal Foundation joined to represent Union City farmer Robert Holman as he challenges a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that allows for automatic loan forgiveness up to 120% of the federal loan for farmers or ranchers who are “socially disadvantaged,” which is defined as “Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Hispanic, or Asian, or Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.”
Read MoreThe Center for Rural Affairs has released a series of resource guides that aims to help farmers and ranchers new to implementing conservation practices like cover crops. The resources provide details on two of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s flagship working lands conservation programs: the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
Read MoreLivestock and poultry producers who suffered losses during the pandemic due to insufficient access to processing can apply for assistance for those losses and the cost of depopulation and disposal of the animals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Vilsack announced the Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program (PLIP) in [recorded] remarks at the National Pork Industry Conference in Wisconsin Dells, WI. The announcement is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative. Livestock and poultry producers can apply for assistance through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) July 20 through Sept. 17, 2021.
Read MoreAgricultural producers and landowners can apply for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands signup from today until August 20. This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated signup options to provide greater incentives for producers and increase the program’s conservation and climate benefits, including setting a minimum rental rate and identifying two national priority zones.
The CRP Grassland signup is competitive, and USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will provide for annual rental payments for land devoted to conservation purposes.
Read MoreToday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it intends to make significant investments to expand processing capacity and increase competition in meat and poultry processing to make agricultural markets more accessible, fair, competitive, and resilient for American farmers and ranchers.
This is one of several key steps that USDA will take to increase competition in agricultural markets, pursuant to President Biden’s Executive Order on promoting competition and as part of USDA efforts to build a more resilient supply chain and better food system. Together, USDA’s actions will help farmers, ranchers, farmworkers and consumers all get a fair shake.
Read MoreThe city of Tallulah’s water treatment plant just received $7.7 million from the USDA in efforts to rehabilitate the plant.
The News Star of Monroe reports, of the $9.1 million being invested in rural Louisiana, Tallulah was allocated the biggest chunk of those funds.
USDA’s investment will be used to restore the town’s 65-year-old water treatment plant.
Read MorePhysical loss loans can help producers repair or replace damaged or destroyed physical property essential to the success of the agricultural operation, including livestock losses. Examples of property commonly affected include essential farm buildings, fixtures to real estate, equipment, livestock, perennial crops, fruit and nut bearing trees and harvested or stored crops and hay.
Louisiana Parishes: Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne and Webster
Read MoreHurricanes, wildfires, and droughts – oh my! Not only was 2020 defined by COVID-19-induced volatility, over 22 weather and climate disasters, each with damages reaching over a billion dollars, hit the U.S. coast to coast last year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 2020 shattered a previous annual record of 16 individual billion dollar weather events which occurred in both 2011 and 2017. With over 262 lives lost and more than $96.4 billion in total economic damages, these disasters will haunt impacted communities for years to come.
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