Author Archives: tanya brown

Farmers in the Dust Bowl along with neighboring states are suffering through a severe drought that is impacting crops from the Louisiana Gulf Coast to Colorado. A drought this severe has not been seen in nearly 80 years. Wheat farmers … Continue reading →

The USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, which helps stabilize, support and protect farm income and prices, released interest rates for April 2011. The borrowing rate-based charge is 0.250, which is unchanged from March 2011, while the 1996 and subsequent crop year … Continue reading →

The 2011 crop loan rate differentials for upland and extra long staple cotton were released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. The differentials are calculated based on market valuations of various cotton quality factors for the … Continue reading →

E-coli is not likely to contaminate the internal structure of leafy greens and increase the incidence of foodborne illnesses, according to a study by the USDA Agricultural Research Center. The study tracked the pathogen’s journey from the field to baby … Continue reading →

The first 60 products to carry the USDA BioPreferred label were unveiled yesterday. The products, which range from hand soaps to engine oils, are composed of agricultural ingredients and are certified to meet the standards for biobased content set by … Continue reading →

Senate Ag Committee Bans Hidden Videos on FarmsThe Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill yesterday, making it difficult for individuals to get hired on a farm for the purpose of secretly recording what they feel is the mistreatment of animals. … Continue reading →

U.S. farmers expect to plant 7.9 million more acres this year than in 2010, according to the USDA Prospective Planting report released today. The overall increase is higher than last year, yet 1.21 million acres below 2008 totals. Corn planting … Continue reading →

USDA has awarded a $9 million grant to the University of California Riverside to study a disease that causes $7 billion in crop losses annually. Phytophthora infestans, which causes late blight, is a fungus-like microbe that attacks potato and tomato … Continue reading →