As nations around the world grapple over what defines sustainable agriculture and how to achieve net zero agricultural emissions by 2050, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack continues to advocate for a voluntary, incentive-based approach that does not result in less food or limit farmers’ ability to make the right decisions for their own operations.
Read MoreIn USDA’s September update of 2020 PLC Payment Rates, wheat, peanuts, seed cotton, long-grain rice, and southern medium-grain rice are projected to receive PLC payments.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing additional time for livestock and poultry producers to apply for the Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program (PLIP). Producers who suffered losses during the pandemic due to insufficient access to processing may now apply for assistance for those losses and the cost of depopulation and disposal of the animals through Oct. 12, 2021, rather than the original deadline of Sept. 17, 2021. PLIP is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative.
Read MoreThis week, the House Agriculture Committee passed its portion of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, including more than $94 billion in new spending related to agriculture.
For Louisiana, there is a glaring hole in that spending plan as it is lacking supplemental disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers after Hurricane Ida ravaged the state last month.
Read MoreU.S. agricultural exports in fiscal year (FY) 2022 are projected at $177.5 billion, $4.0 billion higher than the revised forecast for the preceding year. The FY 2021 export forecast of $173.5 billion represents an increase of $9.5 billion from May’s projection, mainly due to higher livestock, dairy, and poultry exports, as well as the adoption of a new definition of “Agricultural Products.”
Read MoreLouisiana corn for grain production is forecast at 101 million bushels, down slightly from the August 1 forecast but up 15 percent from 2020. Based on conditions as of September 1, yield is expected to average 179 bushels per acre, up 6 bushels from last month but down 2 bushels from last year. Planted acreage is revised to 580,000 acres, down 20,000 acres from June 2021. Harvested acreage for grain is revised from 585,000 to 565,000 acres
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has accepted offers for more than 2.5 million acres from agricultural producers and private landowners for enrollment through this year’s Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Signup. This is double last year’s enrollment and brings the total acres enrolled across all CRP signups in 2021 to more than 5.3 million acres, surpassing USDA’s 4-million-acre goal. Producers and landowners submitted offers for nearly 4 million acres in Grassland CRP, the highest in the signup’s history.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will soon publish Requests for Applications (RFAs) for new grant programs - the Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant program and the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant program - to support agricultural stakeholders who haven’t yet received substantial federal financial assistance in responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
Read MoreU.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the Department is investing $464 million to build or improve renewable energy infrastructure (PDF, 631 KB) and to help rural communities, agricultural producers and businesses lower energy costs in 48 states and Puerto Rico.
Read MoreThe Tax Aggie Coalition, sent a letter to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee leadership urging them to consider the implications that changes to federal tax policy will have on family-owned agricultural businesses. Nearly 330 trade associations representing family-owned food, agriculture and related businesses agree that, when drafting legislation to implement President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda, it is critical that the “American Families Plan” must also support family farms and ranches.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $700 million grant program Tuesday designed to give economic relief to food workers hit hard by the pandemic. Another $20 million is being set aside to pilot a program to support grocery workers, the USDA said.
The money will be divvied up among state agencies, Native American tribes and nonprofits. Those entities will reimburse farmworkers and meatpacking workers for COVID-19 expenses up to $600.
Read MoreThe Southern University Ag Center and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences (CAFCS) have received $749,795 in Capacity Building grants from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The announcement was made in July through a USDA press release discussing its $21.8 million investment to 1890 Land-grant Institutions to support research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities at our nation’s Land-grant University System.
Read MoreOn Sept. 2, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service released the Farm Sector Income Forecast report. Overall, the report shares promising data for farmers in 2021.
This report includes data spanning the entire farm sector, which includes 2 million farms, over 965 farm business and more than 6 million people living in farm households.
Read MoreThe American Farm Bureau Federation today sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack detailing a list of solutions to address critical supply chain issues facing America’s farmers and ranchers. AFBF details seven priorities for USDA to consider in response to President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains.
Read MoreOn Wednesday, September 8, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will hold a media call to announce investments in renewable energy infrastructure in rural communities across the country as part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) commitment under the Biden-Harris Administration to help rural America build back better.
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