The Secretary proclaimed the first week of August as National Farmers Market Week (PDF, 146 KB) as a way to champion the direct-to-consumer producers, market managers, and customers that make their communities come alive during market days.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced loan interest rates for August 2021, which are effective August 2. USDA’s 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 election of responsible agricultural producers to FSA county committees is important to ALL farmers and ranchers with large or small operations. It is crucial that every eligible producer take part in this election because county committees are a direct link between the farm community and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Committee members are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA. They help deliver FSA farm programs at the local level. Farmers who serve on committees help decide the kind of programs their counties will offer. They work to make FSA agricultural programs serve the needs of local producers.
Today is the last day to file nomination forms at the local USDA Service Center.
Read MoreAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced during a press conference with U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, U.S. Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., and U.S. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing $67 million in competitive loans through the new Heirs’ Property Relending Program (HPRP), which aims to help agricultural producers and landowners resolve heirs’ land ownership and succession issues.
Read MoreThe 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.
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