Former New Mexico lawmaker tapped for USDA leadership role
February 16, 2023 GMTALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A former Democratic congresswoman from New Mexico has been nominated to serve as the next deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The granddaughter of migrant farm workers, Xochitl Torres Small has been working as an undersecretary in the agency with a focus on rural development.
New rules would limit sugar in school meals for first time
February 3, 2023 GMTU.S. agriculture officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries.
State officials back $1.5M in tax breaks for Iowa beef plant
January 23, 2023 GMTDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials agreed Friday to provide a beef processing company with $1.5 million in tax breaks to help finance a $48 million expansion that will double its production.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board approved providing the Upper Iowa Beef plant in Lime Springs with about $863,000 in tax credits for job creation and nearly $650,000 in refunds of sales and other taxes the company will spend expanding and equipping the plant.
Feds send $930 million to curb ‘crisis’ of US West wildfires
January 19, 2023 GMTBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. is directing $930 million toward reducing wildfire dangers in 10 western states by clearing trees and underbrush from national forests, the Biden administration announced Thursday, as officials struggle to protect communities from destructive infernos being made worse by climate change.
Organic livestock farmers, hit by rising prices, seek help
December 15, 2022 GMTWHITINGHAM, Vt. (AP) — Organic dairy and other livestock farmers are seeking emergency federal aid as they grapple with skyrocketing organic feed costs, steep fuel and utility expenses as well as the consequences of drought in many parts of the country.
Mexico, US appear headed for dispute over GM corn
November 29, 2022 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico and the United States appear to be headed for another commercial dispute Tuesday, this time over a Mexican ban on imports of genetically modified yellow corn.
USDA says more than $200M will help meat processors expand
November 2, 2022 GMTOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Agriculture Department announced more than $223 million in grants and loans Wednesday to help small- and mid-sized meat processing plants expand as part of a larger $1 billion effort to boost competition in the highly concentrated industry.
Rural areas to get $759M in grants for high-speed internet
October 27, 2022 GMTRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Agriculture Department announced Thursday it is making available $759 million in grants and loans to enable rural communities to access high-speed internet, part of the broader $65 billion push for high-speed connectivity from last year's infrastructure law.
Drought disaster declared; city restricts outdoor irrigation
August 23, 2022 GMTPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Federal officials have declared a drought-related disaster in Rhode Island while New England’s second-largest city is restricting outdoor water use as the drought in the Northeast worsens.
Feds: $401M will add high-speed internet to rural US places
July 29, 2022 GMTLAS VEGAS (AP) — The federal government is pledging $401 million in grants and loans to expand the reach and improve the speed of internet for rural residents, tribes and businesses in remote parts of 11 states from Alaska to Arkansas.
78,000 pounds of infant formula arrives in US
May 23, 2022 GMTINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A military plane carrying enough specialty infant formula for more than half a million baby bottles arrived Sunday in Indianapolis, the first of several flights expected from Europe aimed at relieving a shortage that has sent parents scrambling to find enough to feed their children.
USDA secretary in Mississippi to discuss rural initiative
April 20, 2022 GMTMEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Mississippi on Wednesday to announce a program meant to help rural communities get federal funding to create jobs, build infrastructure and improve their economies.
Lawmakers want feds to help farms tackle ‘forever chemicals’
March 15, 2022 GMTPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's congressional delegation wants the federal government to help farmers in the state cope with the growing problem of managing long-lasting chemical contamination.
Kentucky Ag commish goes on foreign trips after 2-year pause
March 15, 2022 GMTFRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles recently visited the Middle East and Europe on federal trade missions.
The ag commissioner's office said the trips ended a two-year pause on U.S.
Plan paves way for more Arizona forest restoration projects
March 11, 2022 GMTFLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service has completed an environmental review that paves the way for large-scale thinning projects and prescribed burns along a prominent line of ponderosa pines and mixed conifer that divide Arizona's desert from the high country.
Iowa attorney general leads study of high fertilizer prices
February 24, 2022 GMTDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Dramatic increases in the price of farm fertilizers have prompted federal agriculture officials and a leading farm state attorney general to look into the causes and whether farmers have been subjected to unfair practices by an industry with few competitors.
USDA head: US farmers to help if Ukraine exports threatened
February 19, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — American wheat farmers will boost production and prevent supply chain problems in the event that a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine chokes off agricultural exports from the global grains powerhouse, the U.S.
Maine groups get more than $700K to grow rural opportunities
October 31, 2021 GMTAUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Organizations in Maine are slated to get more than $700,000 from the federal government to help with rural challenges such as high-speed internet, education and health care.
Commissioner calls for federal firefighter vaccine mandate
August 23, 2021 GMTOLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The leader of Washington state’s wildfire response is calling on federal agencies to take the additional step of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations among their wildland firefighting forces to secure the country’s wildfire response capability.
USDA head visits Vermont, hears about farm runoff reductions
August 19, 2021 GMTBURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Vermont officials told the U.S. Department of Agriculture secretary on Thursday that farm efforts to reduce phosphorus runoff and federal money to support that work are paying off to improve the water quality of Lake Champlain.
Dairy farmers eligible for pandemic-related assistance
August 19, 2021 GMTBURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Help is on the way for dairy farmers who got a lower price for their products because of pandemic-related market abnormalities, the U.S. Department of Agricullture said Thursday.
Food stamp benefits to increase by more than 25% in October
August 16, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration has approved a significant and permanent increase in the levels of food aid available to needy families — the largest single increase in the program's history.
USDA to permanently boost food stamp benefits by 25 percent
August 16, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has approved a significant and permanent increase in the levels of food stamp assistance available to needy families—the largest single increase in the program's history.
USDA unveils plan to help build small meat processing plants
July 9, 2021 GMTDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government promised Friday to spend $500 million to encourage the construction of smaller meat processing plants located closer to farmers who raise chickens, pigs and cows with the goal of diversifying an industry now largely run by a small number of large corporations.
US agency offers $307 million for rural water projects
July 8, 2021 GMTOHKAY OWINGEH PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue up to $307 million in grants and low-interest loans in an effort to modernize rural water infrastructure, officials announced Wednesday.
USDA declares drought emergency in 15 more Montana counties
July 7, 2021 GMTHELENA, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared Tuesday a drought disaster in 15 additional Montana counties, bringing the number of counties in a declared disaster to 31 of Montana's 56 counties.
USDA sending $1B in funding to country’s food bank networks
June 4, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Agriculture is sending $1 billion to the country's food bank networks, seeking to expand the reach of the system and revamp the way food banks acquire and distribute aid.
USDA to begin paying off loans of minority farmers in June
May 21, 2021 GMTMinority farmers who for decades have faced systemic discrimination will begin to receive debt relief beginning in early June under what Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called Friday one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in decades.
US departments urged to become year-round wildfire agencies
March 30, 2021 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s U.S. senators and nearly two-dozen representatives asked the Agriculture and Interior departments on Monday to transition their agencies to a year-round wildland workforce because blazes are no longer limited to traditional fire seasons...
Vice president’s husband discusses hunger at Iowa Food Bank
March 22, 2021 GMTDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The husband of Vice President Kamala Harris toured a Des Moines food bank Monday as the Biden administration continued its effort to promote the recently passed $1...
USDA relocations curtail ag research, farmer confidence
March 6, 2021 GMTBELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — More than a year after two U.S. Department of Agriculture research agencies were moved from the nation's capital to Kansas City, Missouri, forcing a mass exodus of employees who couldn't or didn't want to move halfway across the country, they remain critically understaffed and some farmers are less confident in the work they produce...
Vilsack confirmed for 2nd stint as US agriculture secretary
February 23, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to confirm Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary, his second run at the Cabinet post...
Black farmers unconvinced by Vilsack’s ‘root out’ racism vow
February 9, 2021 GMTBELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — President Joe Biden's nomination of Tom Vilsack to lead the Agriculture Department received a chilly reaction from many Black farmers who contend he didn't do enough to help them the last time he had the job...
Biden’s challenge: Building Cabinet that meets all his goals
December 13, 2020 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly after President-elect Joe Biden’s victory last month, Cabinet hopeful WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has spent years, if not decades, telling his fellow Democrats they needed to do more to aid rural communities and reach out to them...Tom Vilsack faces new challenges as he returns to old job
December 12, 2020 GMT
Biden: Cabinet picks from Obama era mean ‘bold new thinking’
December 11, 2020 GMTWILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden on Friday introduced a series of key picks for his new government that drew heavily from the Obama administration, saluting their “deep experience” while insisting he could rely on them for “bold new thinking...
Election 2020 Today: Biden’s Obama redux; GOP bands together
December 11, 2020 GMTHere’s what’s happening Friday in Election 2020 and WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is getting the old gang back together. Increasingly deep into the process of selecting Cabinet members and other senior staff, the incoming Biden administration has a distinctly Obama feel...Obama reunion? Biden fills Cabinet with former WH leaders
December 11, 2020 GMT