Texas lawmakers to study declining monarch butterfly and bee populations The population of monarch butterflies continues to decline and are down about 15 percent from a year ago, according to numbers from a Texas A&M University monarch butterfly researcher. With that drop, there’s an overall 90 percent decline in the population… Continue reading
Wanted: Office space in a city with a ‘critical mass of intellectual capacity’ The Agriculture Department is willing to go far into the countryside to find office space for two agencies that it wants to move out of Washington. The new headquarters must have robust internet service, a “critical mass… Continue reading
From USDA.gov New Partnerships Support More Prosperous Futures for More than 73,000 People POLAND, La., Aug. 14, 2018 – Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett visited the state today to announce that USDA is investing more than $124 million (PDF, 155.4 KB) to help rebuild and improve rural water… Continue reading
Farm bill negotiators prodded to resolve SNAP work rules With the Senate returning early from its August recess, a panorama of farm, conservation, ag retailer, insurer, lender and anti-hunger groups said on Monday that urban and rural America needs prompt passage of the 2018 farm bill. California avoids the SNAP snafu engulfing… Continue reading
New buyers elusive, U.S. builds a mountain of soybeans U.S. farmers will reap a record-large soybean crop in the middle of a trade war with China, ordinarily the No. 1 export customer for the most widely grown U.S. crop, with no replacement buyer on the horizon. House Ag chairman was… Continue reading
Perdue takes control of USDA’s economics agency The Economic Research Service, the USDA’s self-described “honest broker of economic information,” is being placed under the control of the agency’s top political appointee, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. The move, announced on Thursday, would make the ERS part of the office of Perdue’s chief… Continue reading
Produce safety rule will weigh heaviest on small growers The smallest fruit and vegetable growers will pay comparatively more than big operators to comply with the so-called Produce Rule from the FDA — as much as 6.8 percent of their sales compared with less than 1 percent for big farmers,… Continue reading
One-in-seven farmers who voted for President Trump in 2016 would not vote for him today, according to a poll released on Monday. The escalating trade war was the leading cause of erosion for Trump among a staunchly Republican group. But a majority still back him: 60 percent would vote for him… Continue reading
‘Right to farm’ is a state issue, says Senate Judiciary chairman Although leaders of two national farm groups called for a federal shield to protect farmers from lawsuits by neighbors, Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Tuesday that states should decide land use questions. Agricultural leaders are seeking federal legislation because of three… Continue reading
With trade war, farmer support for Trump erodes sharply One-in-seven farmers who voted for President Trump in 2016 would not vote for him today, according to a poll released on Monday. The escalating trade war was the leading cause of erosion for Trump among a staunchly Republican group. But a… Continue reading
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