Category Archives: News

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is drafting regulations to implement a livestock tracking system that will help reduce disease outbreaks by allowing officials to trace the disease to a particular group of animals. The new tracking system will be mandatory, … Continue reading →

A 130-year-old sugar company has been selected to help power Navy jets and ships in an effort to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar operates the last sugar plantation on the island and has been … Continue reading →

Producing crickets, locusts and meal worms for human consumption would emit 10 times less methane and 300 times less nitrous oxide than livestock production, according to a Belgian entomologist. Arnold Van Huls said that most of the world currently eats … Continue reading →

The number of farmers markets has increased by 16 percent since last year, according to the USDA 2010 National Farmers Market Directory, which lists 6,132 operational markets compared to 5,274 in 2009. “Seeing such continued strong growth in the number … Continue reading →

A Montana woman pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday for stealing more than $14,000 in subsidy payments for her family. Judy Lynn Hoffman was working as a program technician for the Farm Service Agency in Glendive, Mont., when she destroyed documents … Continue reading →

U.S. farm production expenditures decreased by nearly $20 billion in 2009, after setting a record high in 2008. This is the first major decline in nearly a quarter century, according to the "Farm Production Expenditures 2009" summary released by the … Continue reading →

Producers in need of financial assistance for crop production or quality losses due to a natural disaster have until Sept. 30 to submit an application for the 2008 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) program. The Farm Service Agency began accepting … Continue reading →

The USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, which helps stabilize, support and protect farm income and prices, released interest rates for August. The borrowing rate-based charge is 0.250, down from 0.375 in July, while the 1996 and subsequent crop year commodity and … Continue reading →

After 11 generations and 378 years, the nation’s oldest family farm is going up for sale. The 138-acre Tuttle farm in Dover, N.H., was named after John Tuttle, who arrived from England in 1632. With a small land grant from … Continue reading →

USDA launched a general sign-up today that will allow farmers and ranchers to offer their land in an effort to protect millions of acres of topsoil from erosion and improve the nation’s natural resources. Producers who enroll in the Conservation … Continue reading →