U.S. demand means biggest food and ag trade deficit ever Americans are consuming ever-larger amounts of imported fruits, vegetables, wine, alcohol, coffee, and beef, an appetite that will drive the food and ag trade deficit to a record $45.5 billion this fiscal year, estimated the Agriculture Department on Tuesday. Imports… Continue reading

Three-way Democratic race at House Agriculture Committee Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig launched a campaign on Monday to be elected the Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee, joining two other candidates, California Rep. Jim Costa and Georgia Rep. David Scott, currently the ranking member. Costa and Craig say they will… Continue reading

Trump chooses former White House adviser to become Agriculture secretary President-elect Donald Trump nominated Brooke Rollins, director of his Domestic Policy Council during his first term, for Agriculture secretary, saying she would “spearhead the effort to protect American farmers, who are truly the backbone of our country.” Rollins is chief… Continue reading

Farm income declines in northern Plains The two-year decline in commodity prices drove down farm income in the northern Plains this summer, ag bankers said overwhelmingly in a survey by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, and they expect income to fall again this winter. Farmers have cut back on major… Continue reading

Farmers need ‘significant’ federal help to survive drop in income “One in five farmers could be pushed out of business by the sharp drop in farm income this year,” said Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith at a Senate hearing on disaster aid, and Arkansas Sen. John Boozman asked how rural America… Continue reading

Disaster package asks $24 billion for agriculture One fourth of the $99 billion in disaster aid requested by President Biden would be funneled through the USDA, with the bulk of the $24 billion devoted to offsetting lost crop production and reduced quality of crops. Agriculture deputy secretary Xochitl Torres Small… Continue reading

Stabenow files farm bill with $2 billion in speedy payments The government would send $2 billion to financially beleaguered farmers almost immediately under a mammoth farm bill proposed by Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow on Monday — months sooner than the Republican bill awaiting a House vote. With only a… Continue reading

First human case of bird flu in Oregon, U.S. total rises to 52 Public health officials confirmed six additional cases of bird flu infection of farmworkers, five in California and one in Oregon, raising the U.S. total to 52 this year. The Oregon infection was the first in the state… Continue reading

Rural landslide is part of ‘historic realignment’ in Trump victory President Trump rolled up 63 percent of the vote in rural America, a larger margin than in 2016, on the way to winning a second term in the White House on Tuesday. Farm groups offered to work with him on… Continue reading

Trump picks Kennedy, vaccine skeptic, for health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will head the Department of Health and Human Services in the new administration, said President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in… Continue reading