Tag Archives: USDA

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is authorizing emergency procedures to help agricultural producers impacted by extreme drought conditions. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is working with crop insurance companies to streamline and accelerate the adjustment of losses and issuance of indemnity payments to crop insurance policyholders in impacted areas. These new crop insurance flexibilities are part of USDA’s ... Read More »

From agweb.com Farmers who insured their crops this year and made the decision to plant cover crops will now be eligible for a financial bonus from USDA. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced the Pandemic Cover Crop Program, which allows farmers who planted cover crops to be eligible for a crop insurance premium. The assistance is $5 dollars an acre crop insurance premium discount for certain producers. ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) just published the 90-Day Progress Report on Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry. The report represents an important step toward in President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and shift towards a whole-of-department approach to climate solutions. The Order, signed January 27, states that, “America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners ... Read More »

County committee elections are now underway. The election of responsible agricultural producers to the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) county committees is important to ALL farmers and ranchers with large or small operations. It is crucial that every eligible producer takes part in this election because county committees are a direct link between the farm community and the U.S. Department of ... Read More »

From the Capital Press On Feb. 24 Tom Vilsack took the oath of office as the 32nd Secretary of Agriculture.It’s Vilsack’s second time as chief of the USDA. He previously served eight years in the same role in the Obama administration. Vilsack, 70, is also the former governor of Iowa, and most recently was president of the U.S. Dairy Export ... Read More »

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA is establishing new programs and efforts to bring financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions. The new initiative—USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers—will reach a broader set of producers than in previous COVID-19 aid programs. USDA is dedicating at least $6 billion toward the new ... Read More »

American farmers and rural businesses need continued investment in the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program to make up for lost export opportunities in the pandemic and to fight foreign competition. That is the message the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports sent March 9, 2021, in letters to House and Senate Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline from March 5 to April 9 for agricultural producers to apply for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program because of recent winter storms and some clarifications to program rules. This program assists producers who suffered crop quality losses due to qualifying 2018 and 2019 natural disasters. “Because of recent winter ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) are pleased with the bipartisan U.S. Senate vote approving the appointment of former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to that important post again under the Biden-Harris Administration. “We welcome Secretary Vilsack’s return to USDA in a year ... Read More »

By Trista Crossley At this time of year, most of the farm action is happening inside as growers are reminded of rapidly approaching farm program deadlines. State leaders from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) reviewed programs and deadlines and answered growers’ questions during a webinar last week as part of the Agricultural Marketing ... Read More »