President Joe Biden and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will visit a family farm in Minnesota today to highlight the administration’s investments in rural America and efforts to support local farmers and communities. Biden will travel to Northfield, Minnesota to visit Dutch Creek Farms to lead his Administration’s Investing in Rural America Event Series and highlight investments from the Biden …
USDA Announces Trade and Food Aid
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing $2.3 billion to help American producers maintain and develop markets for their commodities and use U.S. commodities to bolster international food aid. Consistent with a bipartisan request from the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, USDA is utilizing funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation …
USDA Agribusiness Trade Mission Delegation Visits Chile
USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor led an agribusiness delegation to Santiago, Chile this week with representatives from the U.S. food and agriculture sectors and state departments of agriculture. “As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of U.S.-Chile relations, I am honored to lead such an incredible group as we work with Chilean importers on expanding …
USDA Announces Biofuels Infrastructure Funding
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced plans to invest up to $500 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to increase the availability of domestic biofuels and give Americans additional cleaner fuel options at the pump. Joined by Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, Vilsack announced the first awardees of 59 infrastructure projects that will receive a total of …
USDA Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Under Secretary Taylor on Trade Mission to Panama
U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis M. Taylor held a media call from Panama City, Panama Wednesday to discuss her Central America-Dominican Republic Trade Mission. Taylor is with a delegation of representatives from 26 agribusiness and farm organizations and two state departments of agriculture looking to develop stronger ties and build economic partnerships …
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USDA Announces Value Added Producer Grants
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Thursday announced the awarding of $9.6 million across the country and taking several other steps to help farmers, ranchers, processors and rural businesses diversify the nation’s meat supply. The Department is awarding 23 Value Added Producer Grant program grants totaling $3.9 million to help producer-owned companies process and market new products. USDA is also providing guarantees …
Land O’Lakes, Inc. Project Aimed at Scaling Production and Addressing Equity in Climate-Smart Farming Selected by USDA in Historic Funding for Climate-Smart Commodities
Project will deploy funding from USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities and matching funds from grant partners to scale production and demand for climate-smart corn, soybean, wheat, cotton and milk production Arden Hills, Minn. (September 15, 2022) – Truterra, LLC, the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes, Inc., one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives, and American Farmland Trust (AFT), a nonprofit focused …
USDA Announces Climate Smart Commodities Project Funding
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing up to $2.8 billion in 70 selected projects under the first wave of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity, with more projects to be announced later this year. Projects announced for this first funding pool included proposals seeking funds ranging from $5 million to $100 million. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed …
USDA Announces Framework to Transform the Food System
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced details of a “framework to transform the food system to benefit consumers, producers and rural communities by providing more options, increasing access, and creating new, more, and better markets for small and mid-size producers.” Vilsack said the framework “builds on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s war …
USDA Announces Meat Supply Chain Actions
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack used an appearance before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday to make a few announcements, including issuing a new Packers & Stockyards Act rulemaking, making available $200 Million to expand competition in meat processing, and investing $25 million in workforce training. Vilsack said the actions build on President Biden’s whole-of-government effort to promote competition in …
Rail Disruptions Impacting Ag and Biofuels
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) heard about how agricultural and biofuels producers are being impacted by rail service challenges during a two-day hearing this week. USDA Deputy Secretary Dr. Jewel Bronaugh told the board how rail disruptions are impacting farmers, ranchers and consumers. (7:37) National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) President and CEO Mike Seyfert testified before the board, listing …
USDA Promises Ethanol Producers COVID Payments Coming Soon
USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small told a House Agriculture Committee hearing this week that $700 million in CARES Act payments for ethanol producers will be coming soon. “We’ve been working to get the money out the door, we took some time to get it right,” Small said. “We are expecting payments to go out in late spring …
Vilsack Talks Trade With Mexican Officials
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack met with his counterpart Mexico Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Victor Villalobos this week to “continue cooperation on shared priorities including open trade, science-based policy making, and sustainable and climate-smart agricultural production.” That meeting resulted in Vilsack and Villalobos announcing that the two countries have agreed to final actions to expanded access to the …
The Yield Forecast Challenge Launches April 15 on AEI Premium
16 Questions, $1,600 Prize… Proving You Were Right Has Never Been So Easy AEI Premium, the online community for agricultural decision makers, is launching a new online contest called the Yield Forecast Challenge. Beginning April 15, you are invited to forecast 16 questions about USDA yield estimates for corn and soybeans. The questions will span the USDA World Agricultural Supply …
USDA to Invest $1 Billion in Climate Smart Commodities
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Jefferson City, Missouri yesterday to announce $1 billion in partnerships to support America’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers and forest landowners. The new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity will finance pilot projects that create market opportunities for U.S. agricultural and forestry products that use climate-smart practices and include innovative, cost-effective ways to measure and verify greenhouse …