U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) News

Outbreak Continues to Grow as Bird Flu Found in Oklahoma Dairy Herd

Oklahoma has become the 13th U.S. state to detect bird flu in dairy cows, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed on Monday, though the state said the infection happened months ago. The confirmation shows the outbreak was more widespread than …

USDA Offers Disaster Assistance to Agricultural Producers Impacted by Recent Storms

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responding to the agricultural devastation caused by tornadoes and flooding in the Midwest. On May 24, Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Zach Ducheneaux signed an Administrator’s Physical Loss Notification (APLN), making 29 counties …

USDA to Provide Weaned Calf Risk Protection Insurance in Four States

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is announcing Weaned Calf Risk Protection, a new insurance option for livestock producers in several states. This policy, offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), offers Actual Production History (APH) coverage for beef cow-calf producers …

Federal Crop Insurance Provides Billions in Profit for Insurers, Says USDA

Roughly one-third of U.S. government spending to insure the nation’s crops since 2011 has gone to insurance companies that derive more than $1 billion in profit from the program each year, according to a government watchdog’s report released on Monday. …

Food Recalls Are Pretty Common for Things Like Rocks, Insects and Plastic

Rocks in Trader Joe’s cookies. Insects in its broccoli-cheese soup. Pieces of plastic in Banquet frozen chicken strips. In recent weeks, U.S. consumers have seen high-profile food recalls for an unappetizing reason: They`re contaminated with foreign objects that have no …

USDA Expands Whole Farm Revenue Protection, Micro Farm Insurance Plans

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced changes to the Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and Micro Farm Insurance plans in an effort to increase participation and access to crop insurance for producers of specialty crops. Improvements …

USDA Introduces New Grapevine Insurance Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new grapevine insurance program within its crop insurance solutions. The program will provide coverage for loss of grafted vines caused by natural perils such as freeze, fire, hail and flood. The program, which …

US Beefs Up Campaign for Accurate Animal Welfare Claims on Meat, Poultry Packaging

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it hopes to weed out false or misleading animal-welfare claims on meat and poultry packaging with new guidance and testing. The claims – such as “pasture-raised,” “humanely raised,” and “raised without antibiotics” – …

Viewpoint: Interest in America’s World-Class Crop Insurance Continues to Grow

Now standing firmly one month into 2023, we can look back at the previous year with pride that we were able to meet many of its challenges with the stability and confidence our agricultural community offers to help feed and …

USDA Rolls Out Rule to Stop Fraud in Organic Food Sales

The U.S. government plans to impose new regulations on food producers and handlers aimed at reducing fraudulent schemes in which non-organic products are sold as organic, one of the biggest changes to oversight of the industry in decades. A final …