Category Archives: News

Producers interested in offering land in an effort to protect millions of acres of topsoil from erosion and improve the nation’s natural resources, will be given the opportunity beginning next week. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the next general … Continue reading →

Empowering women in agriculture could raise food output in developing countries by up to 4 percent and cut world hunger by 12 to 17 percent, according to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Women make up … Continue reading →

The USDA Commodity Credit Corporation released the 2011 rice loan rates today for classes of farm-stored rice. The national average rough rice loan rate is used to determine farm-stored loan proceeds in other rice-producing states. The national loan rates for … Continue reading →

More and more young people in their 20s and 30s are turning to farming as a career. They look down on industrial farming and flock to a culture that demands grass-fed and pasture-raised meats. Yet, their interest is hindered by … Continue reading →

The Dairy Industry Advisory Committee voted last week to approve a final report to the Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that offers recommendations concerning dairy farm profitability and milk prices. The committee, which was chartered in 2009, was asked to make … Continue reading →

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wants to help dairy farmers now. Representing a state that has lost 23 percent of its dairy farms in five years, Gillibrand doesn’t want to wait for the next Farm Bill before changing the pricing … Continue reading →

More U.S. states are now eligible to ship potatoes to Thailand. In an announcement made this week by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the Thailand government will now accept potatoes from Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota … Continue reading →

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

Three major problems plague the world today and what happens in agriculture will help shape the resolution of these issues, according to former President Bill Clinton. The president — speaking before a crowd of 2,000 attendees at the 2011 Agricultural … Continue reading →

In an effort to resolve all claims of past discrimination, USDA has set up a claims process for Hispanic and women farmers who can show that they were denied a loan or loan servicing due to discriminatory practices. The process … Continue reading →