USDA and National Agricultural Statistics Service officials are reminding producers that Feb. 6 is the deadline to respond to the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
The NASS survey is conducted every five years to provide a complete account of the nation’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them. In December, NASS mailed questionnaires to every known agriculture producer in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Read MoreLouisiana January 1 All Cattle Inventory Down 3 Percent.
Read MoreThe Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Commodity Procurement Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) invite you to a live, interactive webinar on becoming an approved USDA food vendor. AMS purchases approximately $6 billion of U.S. grown and processed foods annually for both domestic and international food assistance programs. USDA purchases over 300 different food products that directly support the nutritional needs for millions of school children, families, and other qualified individuals. Find out how your company can participate in these purchases that support American agriculture.
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack issued secretarial disaster declarations for an additional five Louisiana parishes due to excessive rains. Those parishes are Bossier, Caddo, Grant, Rapides and West Carroll.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service today announced it will offer $41 million through the 2023 Wood Innovations Grant and 2023 Community Wood Grant programs to spark innovation and create new markets for wood products and renewable wood energy.
Read MoreThe Biden administration says it plans to transform the food system to create a more competitive agricultural economy with new and better markets, and more resilient farms and ranches. In the recent news release, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack underscored the administration’s vision and efforts to create an economy where the wealth and opportunities created in rural America stay there.
Read MoreAfter serving nearly two years as the U.S. deputy secretary of agriculture, Dr. Jewel Bronaugh said that she is stepping away from the role to be able to spend more time with family. Her departure will happen in the coming weeks.
Read MoreLouisiana milk production during the October - December 2022 quarter was 25.0 million pounds, down 11 percent from the same period in 2021 but up 14 percent from the July - September quarter.
Read MoreA full-scale organic regulations overhaul has been a long time coming. And finally, it seems to be here … at least on paper. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has just unveiled its Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule, which it hopes will “protect organic integrity and bolster farmer and consumer confidence in the USDA organic seal.”
As I read through all of the things this new rule is supposed to do — from strengthening certification of organic imports to more rigorous domestic on-site inspections and better data reporting — I couldn’t help but wonder what all those organic activists think now that the USDA has basically admitted that the system they championed has been deeply flawed.
Read MoreResearchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service have bred four cotton lines that can be used to make self-extinguishing textiles when exposed to fire. The hope is that these cotton lines will reduce the need for flame-retardant chemicals to be embedded in consumer products.
The new cotton lines were developed from cultivated varieties with a novel flame-retardant trait. When exposed to an open flame, the fabric from the new cotton lines self-extinguished compared to regular cotton fabric, which burned entirely in seconds.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the details of additional assistance for dairy producers, including a second round of payments through the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program (PMVAP) and a new Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP). The update to PMVAP and the new ODMAP will enable USDA to better support small- and medium-sized dairy operations who weathered the pandemic and now face other challenges.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds specialty crop producers of available assistance to help cover certain costs of complying with regulatory and market-driven food safety certification requirements. Applications for the Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops (FSCSC) program for eligible 2022 costs are due by Jan. 31, 2023. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will accept applications for 2023 costs from Feb. 1, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2024.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $70 million to support 350 projects under the Plant Protection Act’s Section 7721 program as part of a nationwide effort to strengthen the country’s infrastructure for pest detection, surveillance, and mitigation, as well as protect the U.S. nursery system. Universities, states, federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, nonprofits and Tribal organizations will carry out selected projects in 48 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Read MoreThe USDA/1890 National Scholar Program is aimed at bolstering educational and career opportunities for students from rural or underserved communities around the country. It was established in 1992 as part of the partnership between USDA and the 1890 land-grant universities.
Read MoreHoneybees are a hot topic when it comes to pollinators. And, while they’re not known for being the best pollinators, they’re still a critical component of agriculture, and they’re being affected by the bacterial disease known as American foulbrood.
In the past, there hasn’t been an effective prevention to protect bees against American foulbrood. The aggressive bacterium, Paenibacillus, is known for spreading quickly from hive to hive, with the only current treatment method being the incineration of the affected hive, bees, and equipment.
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