The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday reported the first human case in the United States of travel-associated New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, from an outbreak-affected country.
Rural America
USDA Ending Loan Support for Solar Projects on Farmland
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday that the department would be cutting off subsidies for solar power projects on U.S. farmland, asserting that they are making it harder for producers to afford acreage.
USDA Reorg Plan ‘About 95%’ Finalized as Feedback Period Begins
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Sunday that USDA’s plans to move much of its D.C.-based staff to five hubs across the country are ‘about 95 percent’ finalized. Still, the USDA will accept comments on the plan to reorganize for a 30-day period ending Tuesday, Aug. 26.
USDA Relocation Plan Will Save About $4 Billion, Officials Say
The USDA is confident its push to move more employees out of Washington and into five new hubs around the country will retain most staff and large-scale layoffs will not be necessary, a top official told lawmakers on Wednesday. The department will be saving about $4 billion through the plan.
USDA Relocation Plan Raises Service, Staff Disruption Concerns
With the release of the Trump administration’s plans to reorganize the U.S. Department of Agriculture including moving more than 2,000 employees out of Washington, D.C., agriculture interest groups, federal lawmakers and others expressed concern about whether the move would disrupt services.
Ag Land Values Mostly Stable Through First Half of 2025
Agricultural land values have remained remarkably stable through mid-2025, according to a news release from Farmers National Company. The resilience is mainly driven by the basic economic principle of supply and demand; there are simply more motivated buyers than willing sellers.
Coke Cane Sugar Switch Threatens Ag Jobs, Corn Refiners Say
A possible move by Coca-Cola and other beverage and food industries to use cane sugar instead of corn syrup as a sweetener would be difficult and expensive to implement, while mostly negative for farmers in the United States.
Farm Bankruptcies Rising in 2025
Family farm bankruptcies increased by 55% last year compared to 2023 and are trending even higher this year as farmers continue to grapple with depressed agricultural commodity prices and high input costs.
Wheat Farmers Cut Losses as Harvest Lags
Farmers cut their losses early this year across the U.S. wheat belt, stretching from Texas to Montana. They were choosing to bale the wheat into hay, plow their fields under or turn them over to animals to graze. In Nebraska, wheat acreage is less than half of what it was in 2005.
No Plans to Close Any FSA Offices, Ag Sec Rollins Says
Reuters’ Leah Douglas reported that “U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at a Senate hearing on Tuesday defended downsizing the USDA and potential cuts to international food aid programs, but said the agency does not plan to close any of its 4,500 offices that serve farmers.” “The USDA has lost more than 15,000 staff to financial […]
White House Budget Plan Proposes Local FSA, NRCS Office Closures
Government Executive’s Eric Katz reported Tuesday that “the Trump administration is planning to severely scale back or outright eliminate funding for many programs across the Agriculture Department, according to White House documents obtained by Government Executive, as it slashes workers and closes offices at the local level.” “The ‘passback’ document from the Office of Management […]
USDA Releasing Frozen Rural Energy Funds — With Stipulations
Agri-Pulse’s Philip Brasher, Rebekah Alvey, and Noah Wicks reported Wednesday that “the Agriculture Department is lifting a freeze on clean energy funding programs but giving awardees 30 days to modify their proposals to remove climate and DEI considerations and bring the projects in line with the Trump administration’s policy for increasing U.S. energy production.” “The action […]
US Soybean Harvest Moving at Fastest Pace in 14 Years
Progressive Farmer’s Anthony Greder reported Monday that “both the U.S. corn and soybean harvests are now double digits ahead of their five-year averages as dry weather continued across most of the country last week, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.” “Corn harvest moved ahead 18 percentage points nationally to reach […]
Walz Brings Ag Committee Experience as VP Pick
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, a politician who the Hagstrom Report’s Jerry Hagstrom reported “has deep roots in agriculture, having been elected to the U.S. House (in 2007) from a mainly rural district in southern Minnesota and serving on the House Agriculture Committee until […]
Republicans Represent 81 of Top 100 Ag Production Districts
Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks reported Wednesday that “Republicans are tightening their electoral grip on farm country, holding all but 19 of the top 100 congressional districts in terms of agricultural sales, according to an Agri-Pulse analysis of newly released data from USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture.” “Republicans control 21 districts ranked highest for the value of […]
Community Benefits Agreement Reached for Nebraska Pipeline Project
The Iowa Capital Dispatch’s Paul Hammel reported last week that “the developer of a carbon-dioxide pipeline (across Nebraska) and an environmental group have struck a ‘one-of-a-kind’ agreement to ensure ‘community benefits’ from the pipeline as well as support for the project.” “Kansas-based Tallgrass, which is converting a 392-mile-long natural gas pipeline to transport CO2, announced […]
HPAI Spreading to Cattle in More States
NPR’s Joe Hernandez reported over the weekend that “livestock at multiple dairy farms across the U.S. have tested positive for bird flu — also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI — in an outbreak that’s likely spread to at least five states.” “The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service […]
Illness Impacting Texas Cattle Confirmed as Bird Flu
AgWeb’s Tyne Morgan reported Monday that “a mystery illness that’s impacted dairy herds in the Texas Panhandle now has a diagnosis: Influenza A. USDA says genetic sequencing revealed it’s the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that’s been in the U.S. for two years.” “APHIS says the ‘National Veterinary Services Laboratories’ detected Influenza […]
Iowa Fertilizer Spill Killing Fish
The Iowa Capital Dispatch’s Jared Strong reported this past weekend that “state conservation officials have found no living fish in the East Nishnabotna River south of Red Oak — the result of a massive fertilizer spill at a farmers cooperative. The only living fish were discovered near Hamburg in far southwest Iowa, downstream of where […]
Ag Census Finds Fewer Farms
The United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service published data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture on Tuesday, a release that happens every 5 years. Among the most significant highlights was a decrease in the total number of farms in the U.S. from 2.04 million in 2017 to 1.90 million in 2022. Here […]