USDA NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94 USDA Wed, 28 Apr 2021 13:53:14 +0000 https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Jonathan Ahl Using electronic tags to track livestock is widespread in Europe. Proponents say it helps prevent and contain food-borne illnesses, but the idea is finding a mixed and often chilly reception in the United States. Radio frequency identification, or RFID tags, can be put on an animal’s ear similar to the metal id clips currently used to identify animals and track them for inventory and health purposes. But the RFID chips send out a signal, which is captured by a reader that uploads information into a database. They are in common use in industries ranging from logistics to amusement parks. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/electronic-tracking-livestock-has-many-opponents-us-0 980 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 17 Mar 2021 15:37:14 +0000 Electronic Tracking Of Livestock Has Many Opponents In The US Jonathan Ahl Several large meat processing companies recently settled price-fixing lawsuits, but it’s unlikely those payments will change much in the food business, experts say. Tyson agreed to a $221.5 million settlement with three consumer and purchasing groups that filed suit against the poultry giant. Chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride and pork company JBS also settled similar complaints. A series of studies at Purdue University show it’s less expensive for companies to continue price fixing and pay fines instead of reforming their practices. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/price-fixing-settlements-meat-industry-not-likely-change-system 964 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 04 Feb 2021 16:40:14 +0000 Price-Fixing Settlements In Meat Industry Not Likely To Change The System Jonathan Ahl While president-elect Joe Biden has been under pressure to choose a very diverse and forward-thinking cabinet, he’s gone back in time for his nomination to be Secretary of Agriculture. His pick, Tom Vilsack, served in that position for all eight years of the Obama administration. And while some see the choice as safe and a good compromise, others from both sides of the political spectrum are not happy. “I was not impressed with Vilsack,” said Darvin Brantledge, a cattle and corn farmer who owns a 1,200-acre plot of land in western Missouri and who voted for Biden. “He (Vilsack) had listening sessions where he wanted to listen to the farmers, but they more or less turned into his promotion toward more corporate control,” Brantledge said. Adding fuel to that criticism is Vilsack taking a job leading the U.S. Dairy Export Council after leaving Obama’s cabinet. That trade group is seen as an ally to large producers. But Trump supporters are just as upset with the choice. Larry Sailer, a https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/biden-compromises-usda-vilsack-pleasing-few 951 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 11 Dec 2020 22:36:48 +0000 Biden Compromises At USDA With Vilsack, Pleasing Few Amy Mayer Balance sheets for farms may look better at the end of 2020 than they have in years. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast . Some expenses have been lower this year, like diesel to power farm equipment, interest on bank loans and livestock. “We haven’t had a decline in expenses of this magnitude or duration since the farm crisis of the early 1980s,” says USDA economist Carrie Litowski. But in a presentation about the latest data on farm income, she said income from crop and livestock sales has declined in 2020, even as overall farmers should pull in more money. “The expected increase in 2020 is largely because of supplemental and ad hoc disaster assistance payments for COVID-19 relief,” Litowski says. Many farmers got checks through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and some also borrowed through the Paycheck Protection Program, which will convert loans to grants if certain criteria are met. USDA calculates that as income for now but will make https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farm-income-year-mostly-thanks-uncle-sam 947 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 04 Dec 2020 15:32:53 +0000 Farm Income Up This Year, Mostly Thanks To Uncle Sam Amy Mayer A propane tank painted to look like a watermelon sits in front of a produce stand on Highway 150 in Fayette County, Iowa. Its long-time owner, Atrus (Attie) Stepp, who was Black, launched Fayette’s annual Watermelon Days festival in 1976. “Everybody’s got good things to say about Attie,” said Charles Downs, who runs the stand now. Downs, who is white, bought the stand from Stepp’s daughter, ending the family’s long legacy. “Conservatively, I’d say it’s been here 80 years, at least, and it’s probably... maybe a hundred,” Downs said. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/why-are-there-so-few-black-farmers-midwest 928 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 16 Oct 2020 17:45:26 +0000 Why Are There So Few Black Farmers In The Midwest? Jonathan Ahl The U-S Department of Agriculture is projecting farm income will increase significantly this year, but that’s only because of an unprecedented amount of government payments that could top $40 billion. The latest Farm Income Report from the USDA shows net farm will total $102 billion, a 23% increase over last year. But 36% of that money is coming from federal subsidies intended to make up for coronavirus losses. Without that aid, net farm income would be down more than $10 billion this year. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-have-more-money-their-pockets-thanks-government-aid 925 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 09 Oct 2020 21:24:40 +0000 Farmers Have More Money In Their Pockets Thanks To Government Aid Suzanne Hogan Lesser prairie chickens don’t really bother Mike McCarty. He likes them just fine, but doesn’t think people understand how hard it is to balance wildlife conservation and being a rancher and farmer in southwest Kansas. “Yes, we need to protect our wildlife and everything,” he says, “but we also need to protect our people, our agriculture.” For more than a decade, the lesser prairie chicken has been the source of contention out here in the southern Great Plains, especially in Kansas, which is where 90% of the remaining birds live. In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as a threatened species, but a year later a judge overturned that designation. In 2019, environmental organizations filed a new lawsuit. But next spring could be a turning point, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is set to make a decision on the bird ’s designation. And there’s a newer program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for broader voluntary conservation efforts, beyond just the lesser https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/how-ranchers-are-helping-conservation-efforts-lesser-prairie-chicken 917 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 23 Sep 2020 21:57:33 +0000 How Ranchers Are Helping Conservation Efforts For The Lesser Prairie Chicken Dana Cronin At a campaign rally in Wisconsin last week, President Trump announced U.S. farmers will receive an additional $14 billion in coronavirus relief aid. This second round of relief aid builds on the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program launched in April to allocate $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers. However, the initial round of CFAP still has $6 billion unpaid dollars in the pot. “Just under half of [the additional aid] is probably just repurposing the funds that were not spent in the previous program,” says University of Illinois ag analyst Jonathan Coppess . “I think that’s a fair estimate given what little we know about it at this point in time.” Signup for CFAP 2 begins on Sept. 21, about a week after the initial round of applications closed on Sept. 11. Coppess says he sees reasons to believe the USDA is rushing out payments. For example, CFAP 2 payments hinge on losses incurred on the 2020 crop, which hasn https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-are-getting-another-round-coronavirus-aid-usda-hasnt-fully-spent-first-one 916 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Mon, 21 Sep 2020 22:02:55 +0000 Farmers Are Getting Another Round Of Coronavirus Aid, But USDA Hasn't Fully Spent The First One Amy Mayer Schools are resuming instruction but with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, they are facing an ever-changing metric for whether students are physically in school buildings. Being able to provide meals to them no matter how they’re learning remains a challenging priority. This week the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it’s extending provisions that allow schools to provide free meals to all children, which can be packaged for pick-up, delivered to classrooms or served in a traditional lunch line. USDA made these adjustments in the spring to account for the abrupt closure of schools, and the School Nutrition Association worked with Congressional allies during the summer to push for continuation into the 2020-2021 school year. Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the School Nutrition Association, says until the announcement, schools had to assume they would be expected to abide by the pre-pandemic regulations. “They were having to figure out, how do we verify enrollment and https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/whether-school-or-online-usda-says-all-students-can-still-get-free-meals 905 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 02 Sep 2020 19:51:28 +0000 Whether In School Or Online, USDA Says All Students Can Still Get Free Meals Jonathan Ahl Chris Bohr’s farm in Martinsburg, Missouri, has hundreds of acres of soybeans and corn. It also has a 5,000 head hog barn that requires a lot of electricity to power its ventilation system, cooling fans and lights. About fifty yards away from the barn are three rows of solar panels. Bohr is among a growing number of farmers that are generating solar power to meet their needs. Bohr received a Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to help pay for his solar panels. And the number of farmers applying for the grants is going up. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/farmers-increasingly-look-solar-power-their-operations 896 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 05 Aug 2020 20:51:23 +0000 Farmers Increasingly Look To Solar To Power Their Operations Dana Cronin When you walk into Cyndy Ash’s barn, one of the first things you notice is a huge burlap sack, bursting at the seams with wool. “We’re sitting on about 600 lbs of wool from when they were sheared last. And it’s been sitting there since they were sheared in March,” Ash says. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/help-uncle-sam-isn-t-reaching-all-farmers 891 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 23 Jul 2020 22:05:47 +0000 Help From Uncle Sam Isn’t Reaching All Farmers Amy Mayer The United States Department of Agriculture is seeking public comment on changes that it says will make getting loans for major projects easier for rural communities. Four loan guarantee programs reassure banks that they’ll be repaid when towns borrow for infrastructure improvements such as water and wastewater treatment systems and energy projects. But each program has its own application and specific requirements. The proposed changes ( PDF ) would streamline the process and reduce bureaucratic red-tape, according to a USDA statement, which could make the programs more appealing to larger banks and lead to greater private investment in rural communities. Johnathan Hladik, policy director at the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Nebraska, says the change has potential. For starters, it might make more money for the banks. “There is every reason to think that this was something that was developed with banks in mind,” he said. “It’s going to be important for us to read that fine print https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/entice-more-rural-investment-usda-proposes-changes-loan-programs 890 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 17 Jul 2020 20:17:43 +0000 To Entice More Rural Investment, USDA Proposes Changes To Loan Programs Dana Cronin In the past two weeks, the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) has issued about $1.4 billion to agricultural producers to provide a boost amid the coronavirus pandemic. What’s unclear is how those distributions were calculated. “We lack some pretty key transparency on how they get to the payment,” says Jonathan Coppess , Assistant Professor of agriculture at the University of Illinois. The payments are part of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program ( CFAP ), a program launched by the USDA in April to maintain the food supply chain and feed hungry Americans. CFAP includes a total of $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers. So far, Midwestern states, led by Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas, have received the bulk of the money. Livestock producers have been top earners overall as well. While the USDA is releasing weekly tallies of where the money is going, it’s unclear how they’re making those determinations. “USDA’s provided information that https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-lacks-transparency-how-its-distributing-coronavirus-aid 873 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:15:02 +0000 USDA 'Lacks Transparency' In How It's Distributing Coronavirus Aid Amy Mayer After the day’s meals are done on a recent Tuesday, Gilbert Community Schools director of food service Deb Purcell shuffles through a stack of papers. Gilbert, a town north of Ames in central Iowa, serves about 1400-1600 meals a day. “This is what I do, planning for a week,” Purcell says pointing to columns on a page. “And there's actually seven pages minimum that go with each day.” She’s counting cups of vegetables and documenting other details about every meal she’s served to comply with stringent federal rules. Her job could soon get easier. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/kids-have-been-chowing-down-healthier-school-meals-adults-may-change-rules 831 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 28 Feb 2020 19:10:07 +0000 Kids Have Been Chowing Down On Healthier School Meals But Adults May Change The Rules Amy Mayer The U.S. Department of Agriculture is laying out its plan for hemp production, 10 months after the 2018 farm bill paved the way for farmers to grow it. The new federal program , which will be published Thursday in the Federal Register, is an “interim final rule” open to public comment. It would require farmers to secure a license from the USDA or their state if they want to grow hemp. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/if-you-want-grow-hemp-usda-says-heres-what-you-must-do 799 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:03:31 +0000 If You Want To Grow Hemp, USDA Says Here's What You Must Do Amy Mayer The State Emergency Operations Center in Johnston, Iowa, has sloped auditorium-style seating and plenty of outlets to keep laptops and cell phones charged. This is where officials gather during and immediately after tornadoes and massive flooding. It’s the center for crisis control. That’s why in September, this space at the Iowa National Guard headquarters became the incident command center for a four day simulation exercise to test how well prepared Iowa and the other top pork-producing states are for an African swine fever outbreak. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/african-swine-fever-continues-its-march-across-asia-us-pork-industry-preps-emergency 797 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Thu, 17 Oct 2019 21:02:08 +0000 As African Swine Fever Continues Its March Across Asia, U.S. Pork Industry Preps For An Emergency Amy Mayer Small farmers and their allies are responding to comments the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture made this week that suggested only big farms are likely to survive. “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out,” Sonny Perdue told a gathering of dairy farmers in Wisconsin. He added that even 100 cows might not be enough to turn a profit. The comments come at a time when dairy farmers across the country, but especially in the upper Midwest, are struggling. University of Illinois agriculture policy professor Jonathan Coppess found the comment “shocking.” “Those farmers have just… they've really gone through it. And the kind of bankruptcies you're seeing and what's happening in that industry… you'd like to see a little more empathy,” he said. The number of dairy farms continues to fall, though the 2018 Farm Bill completely overhauled federal dairy assistance and the new program has paid out more than $300 million to more than 20,000 farmers this year. Rob Larew, vice president for https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/secretary-agricultures-comments-dairy-strike-some-shocking-disappointing 791 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 04 Oct 2019 13:59:14 +0000 Secretary of Agriculture's Comments On Dairy Strike Some As 'Shocking,' 'Disappointing' Dan Charles For the first time in half a century, the U.S. government just revised the way that it inspects pork slaughterhouses. The change has been long in coming. It's been debated, and even tried out at pilot plants, for the past 20 years. It gives pork companies themselves a bigger role in the inspection process. Critics call it privatization. To understand the change, it's helpful to visualize a pork processing plant. It works like an assembly line in reverse. A whole pig gets cut up into parts. At various points along that disassembly line, inspectors from the federal government are required by law to be present at all times. They reject live animals that seem sick or sections of a carcass that don't look right. Casey Gallimore, director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the North American Meat Institute , which represents meat companies, says that a really big plant has seven inspectors on the processing line. "You're going to have three inspectors that are looking at the heads, https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-offers-pork-companies-new-inspection-plan-despite-opposition 784 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 18 Sep 2019 16:04:17 +0000 USDA Offers Pork Companies A New Inspection Plan, Despite Opposition Amy Mayer The national average price for corn this season is back to $3.60 a bushel, about where it’s been most of this year except for an early-season spike ($4.16 in July) before the size and quality of the crop was known. That’s not great news for corn growers, and for the ethanol part of the market, the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates are even worse. https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/usda-numbers-confirm-declining-demand-ethanol 781 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Fri, 13 Sep 2019 16:54:54 +0000 USDA Numbers Confirm Declining Demand For Ethanol Frank Morris This June the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its plan to move two of its research agencies out of Washington, D.C., to the Kansas City area. Most of the people working at the agencies have since quit, leaving gaping holes in critical divisions. Researchers warn that the agency upheaval will starve farmers, policymakers and ultimately consumers out of the best possible information about food and the business of growing it. USDA is taking the Economic Research Service and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, splitting them up, and moving most of the workforce halfway across the country. ERS tracks the vast, global food production business, and its data drive markets and investments that shape agriculture. NIFA funds agricultural research at universities across the country. Both agencies are widely considered the best in the world at what they do, but they have also come in for some rough treatment under the Trump administration, according to Laura Dodson, an ERS https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/post/critics-relocating-usda-research-agencies-point-brain-drain 778 as https://www.harvestpublicmedia.org Wed, 11 Sep 2019 13:29:35 +0000 Critics Of Relocating USDA Research Agencies Point To Brain Drain