The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is leveraging its authorities under the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to bring in new types of partners and ultimately expand opportunities in voluntary conservation for the Nation’s agricultural producers and private landowners. In direct response to feedback from state agencies, Tribes, non-profits and other groups, USDA has updated CREP’s rule regarding matching fund requirements, and invested in additional staff to work directly with partners for streamlined, partner-driven conservation efforts.

USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) developed a unique approach to using satellite imagery to predict cattle weight gain on rangelands. By fusing multiple images over a period of time, scientists were able to monitor how forage quality changes over space and time in rangelands within the shortgrass steppe, and how this relates to the weight gain of free-ranging cattle throughout the summer grazing season.

The USDA says there were more cattle placed into feedlots in November 2021 than November 2020.

Placements were 4% above a year ago at 1.971 million head, with a wide range of estimates heading into the report because of increased marketing rates due to drought conditions in some of the major U.S. feeding areas. Most of the cattle placed weighed less than 800 pounds, heading to market next spring and early next summer.

Spending on USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs jumped 30 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2020 to an inflation-adjusted record of $122.1 billion, abruptly reversing a six-year decline. This increase reflects the expanded need for food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent Federal response to meet that need.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced today that it does not expect to purchase and sell sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program for crop year 2021, which runs from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service is conducting the 2021 Farm Producer Study to improve knowledge and understanding of agricultural producers and help USDA improve services to them. A brief questionnaire will mail this month to approximately 75,000 U.S. agricultural producers across the country.

American rice and wheat producers are operating at a “clear disadvantage compared to their competitors, primarily from India,” where the government is subsidizing more than half of the value of production for rice and wheat, instead of the 10% allowable under World Trade Organization rules, according to a letter from 18 senators. As a result, the senators asked Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to pursue a WTO case against India’s domestic support for rice and wheat production.

Everyone was glad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, as expectations were high coming into 2021. But it’s been a rollercoaster ride with some of the highs and lows on the ag policy front for the year. Here’s a closer look.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is leveraging its authorities under the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to bring in new types of partners and ultimately expand opportunities in voluntary conservation for the Nation’s agricultural producers and private landowners. In direct response to feedback from state agencies, Tribes, non-profits and other groups, USDA has updated CREP’s rule regarding matching fund requirements, and invested in additional staff to work directly with partners for streamlined, partner-driven conservation efforts.