(USDA / Ag Insider) The first Labor Day celebration was a big parade held on September 5, 1882 in New York City. Organized by trade unions to impress employers and politicians, it overlooked farmers even though 49 percent of American workers were employed on farms at the time. In… Continue reading
Risk of ‘food nationalism’ as coronavirus pandemic sweeps world The world’s grain reserves are large, with a bumper crop on the horizon, but the coronavirus pandemic has already inspired agricultural protectionism in a small number of countries, said analysts in a think tank paper this week. Separately, former Agriculture Undersecretary… Continue reading
USDA to release coronavirus reserve funds, makes more products eligible More than half a million farmers and ranchers will get a second round of coronavirus relief payments, worth an estimated $1.4 billion, said the Agriculture Department on Tuesday as it made dozens of additional commodities eligible for aid and gave… Continue reading
Biggest farmers stand solidly with Trump, poll shows Large-scale farmers and ranchers say they will vote in landslide numbers for President Trump this fall, applauding his handling of agriculture and foreign policy, said a Farm Futures poll released on Wednesday. Some 75 percent of respondents to the nationwide email poll… Continue reading
In abrupt reversal, USDA extends summer school food waivers The Department of Agriculture said Monday that it would extend school meal waivers through Dec. 30—less than a week after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had said the programs would lapse by Sept. 30. The sudden reversal came amid an outcry from… Continue reading
Trump failed on trade and ethanol, says Democratic farm forum Rural America, and farmers in particular, voted overwhelmingly for President Trump in 2016 but have suffered rather than benefitted for it, said speakers on a “farmers and ranchers roundtable” organized by the Biden-Harris campaign. The forum, held 10 days ahead… Continue reading
More growers, less hemp in industry slowed by uncertainty, pandemic The first year of nationwide cultivation of industrial hemp has been a mixture of retrenchment and optimism for growth in the longer term. “The industry isn’t going to go away,” said hemp entrepreneur Morris Beegle on Thursday. “It’s going to… Continue reading
Administration prepares another multibillion-dollar aid package for agriculture The USDA aims to release a new version of its coronavirus relief program for farmers and ranchers in the next couple of weeks, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday, with at least $14 billion available. President Trump has suggested the new… Continue reading
U.S. Army Corps key to Trump’s move on Pebble Mine This week, the Trump administration placed a major hurdle in front of the company seeking to develop the largest gold and copper mine in North America. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday stated that the proposed Pebble Mine… Continue reading
Trump boosts food-box funding by $1 billion Hours after he was nominated for a second term, President Trump announced at a produce packing house in North Carolina an additional $1 billion on Monday for the food-box giveaway program that is his administration’s answer to hunger during the pandemic. Farm… Continue reading
USDA News & Features Organic Food Features