Category Archives: News

California farm workers may soon get paid for overtime after eight hours of work. A bill introduced by Sen. Dean Florez and now on its way to the governor’s desk, will require farm workers to receive time and a half … Continue reading →

Soybean planting set a new record high this year with farmers sowing seed in 78.9 million acres of land. According to the USDA Acreage report released this week, record-high planted acreage was reported in Kansas, Nebraska, New York and Pennsylvania, … Continue reading →

Researchers in northern India have found a connection between cell phone usage and the decline in honeybees in some parts of the world. The study found that cell phones, when fitted to a hive and powered up for two 15-minute … Continue reading →

Disaster assistance is being issued to honeybee, livestock and farm-raised fish producers who suffered losses in 2008 due to disease, adverse weather or other conditions. The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program, or ELAP, provides more than … Continue reading →

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

Farm Service Agency Administrator Jonathan Coppess kicked off the first public meeting of the Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of Agricultural Systems (MIDAS) project this morning, giving a brief overview of the project that is expected to improve the delivery … Continue reading →

The Farm Service Agency will hold a public meeting on June 29 to kick off its efforts to improve customer service through the Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of Agricultural Systems project or MIDAS. The project will upgrade and improve … Continue reading →

USDA and the Department of Justice held the third in a series of joint workshops to discuss competition and regulatory issues in the agricultural marketplace. The workshop — held last Friday in Madison, Wis. — focused on the role of … Continue reading →

USDA is working with farmers in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland to help improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay. Through a pilot program, the agency is showing farmers how to use the latest conservation techniques to help reduce runoff into … Continue reading →

Russia has agreed to lift a ban on U.S. chicken after barring it from being imported because of the amount of chlorine used to disinfect the meat. As part of the agreement, the U.S. will publish information on USDA’s website … Continue reading →