Through a comprehensive set of investments, USDA announced an additional $3 billion will be made available through the Commodity Credit Corporation to take action to prevent the spread of African swine fever, assist producers grappling with drought and market disruptions at ports and help school nutrition professionals obtain nutritious food for students.
Read MoreMonday, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai announced the Biden Administration’s plans for a new approach to the U.S.-China relationship, including enforcement of the U.S.-China Phase One Agreement that was signed in January 2020. A series of upcoming bilateral discussions amongst trade negotiators will be scheduled.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing a higher loan limit will be available for borrowers seeking a guaranteed farm loan starting Oct. 1, 2021, from $1.776 million to $1.825 million.
“Farm loans are critical for our customers’ annual operating and family living expenses, emergency needs, and cash flow,” FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux said. “Raising the guaranteed loan limit will allow FSA to better meet the financial needs of producers as natural disasters and the pandemic continue to impact their operations.”
Read MoreLouisiana all wheat stored in off farm storage facilities on September 1, 2021 totaled 3.43 million. United States all wheat stored in all positions on September 1, 2021 totaled 1.78 billion bushels, down 18 percent from a year ago. On farm stocks are estimated at 419 million bushels, down 41 percent from last September. Off farm stocks, at 1.36 billion bushels, are down 6 percent from a year ago.
Read MoreLouisiana agricultural operations have been significantly impacted by Hurricane Ida and related weather events. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has technical and financial assistance available to help farmers and livestock producers recover. Additionally, agricultural producers in certain Louisiana parishes will have an additional time after the Sept. 30 sales closing date for producers to make coverage adjustments in hardest hit parishes.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced Sept. 30 that one of its African Swine Fever Virus (ASF) vaccine candidates has been shown to prevent and effectively protect both European and Asian bred swine against the current circulating Asian strain of the virus.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced loan interest rates for October 2021, which are effective Oct. 1, as well as marketing assistance loan rates for upland cotton in 2022. 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 continuing resolution passed by Congress September 20, 2021 to fund the federal government included $10 billion to fund the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus, better known as WHIP+. This funding is important for Louisiana’s farmers and ranchers affected by the 2020 hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta, as well as the 2021 ice storm.
Read MoreOn Thursday, the USDA pegged the U.S. soybean ending stocks, as of Sept. 1, higher than the trade estimates.
As a result of today's USDA Quarterly Grain Stocks Report, the CME Group’s soybean complex traded lower, following the report.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a comprehensive set of investments to address challenges facing America’s agricultural producers. These include assistance to address challenges and costs associated with drought, animal health, market disruptions for agricultural commodities, and school food supply chain issues. Secretary Vilsack also outlined and requested public comments on a new climate partnership initiative designed to create new revenue streams for producers via market opportunities for commodities produced using climate-smart practices.
Read MoreUSDA’s Risk Management Agency is extending the crop insurance deadline for fall planted crops in the Hurricane Ida impacted parishes to October 29th.
Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 hurricane, damaged infrastructure in parts of Louisiana, impacting transportation, electricity and other utilities, and communications. Additionally, some producers are required to make changes to their existing crop insurance policies to meet the linkage requirements for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) program and Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program-Plus (WHIP+). The limited mobility and communication issues due to Hurricane Ida, coupled with ongoing pandemic restrictions, has hindered the ability for producers to meet with their crop insurance agent to make changes to crop insurance policies by the September 30, 2021, sales closing date (SCD).
Read MoreOn September 16, the Department of Transportation (DOT) published a notice requesting information from the public to prepare a report required by President Biden’s recent executive order (EO) on “America’s Supply Chains.” Per the EO, the Secretary of Transportation must submit to the President, within 1 year, a report on transportation-sector supply chains.
Read MoreAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to aid recovery efforts for farmers, ranchers and residents affected by Hurricane Ida. USDA staff in offices across the country are ready to respond with a variety of program flexibilities and other assistance to producers and communities in need.
Read MoreIn February 2021, after sugarcane was made eligible for the USDA- Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) program, many Louisiana sugarcane farmers applied for Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) payments for the 2018 and/or the 2019 crop year(s) with many Louisiana sugarcane producers receiving Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) payments for one or both crop year(s).
Read MoreAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urged U.S. agricultural cooperatives to “harden” defenses against cyber attacks after Iowa’s New Cooperative Inc. was targeted in a ransomware attack last week.
“We want to make sure during this harvest that we don’t have any additional disruptions as a result of systems being hacked,” Vilsack said Wednesday in a speech to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s annual meeting.
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