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 the technology used to deliver farm programs and benefits to farmers and ranchers. The meeting — which starts 8:30 a.m. in the Jefferson Auditorium — will highlight the project’s goals and current strategies. Learn more.

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 antitrust and regulatory enforcement in the dairy industry. “The dairy industry has been hit particularly hard over the past eighteen months and like other agricultural sectors, it is experiencing consolidation and shrinking farm numbers,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Several panel discussions were held to explore trends in the industry, farm prices for milk and related issues from a public policy perspective. Learn more. (Related stories: Bloomburg BusinessWeek).

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 streams, rivers and the bay. If successful, the program could serve as a model for other areas. (USDA Radio Newsline).

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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 about which disinfectants/pathogen reduction treatments are approved by Russia for processing poultry. Russia was once the largest importer of U.S. chicken, spending $752 million on the meat in 2009. Read the press release. (Related article: Bloomberg Businessweek).

Members of Congress have requested that USDA retain the regulated status of genetically engineered alfalfa. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, lawmakers and more than 50 businesses and organizations stated that a USDA Draft Environmental Impact Statement — which found “no significant impact” from the use of genetically modified versions of alfalfa — could not be justified. The letter comes two days after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban imposed by a lower court on genetically modified alfalfa. Read more.

The first day of July is an important date for the country, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. It’s the day that the U.S. renewable fuel standard goes into effect. “It is a goal and establishes an opportunity for this country to develop a comprehensive regional strategy for successful biofuel market expansion to meet the 36 billion gallon threshold established by Congress that needs to be met by 2022,” said Vilsack. (USDA Daily Radio Newsline).

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