USDA Seeks Input on Data Collection as Confidence Falls
USDA is asking farmers and other stakeholders to help examine how USDA can improve its data collection and analysis. The department is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to examine…
Ag Economy to Improve Slightly in 2026, USDA Projects
The Agriculture Department is anticipating a slightly easier 2026 for U.S. ag producers, with prices for major commodities nudging higher and input and labor costs moderating, according to USDA Chief…
Number of U.S. Farms Shrank by 15,000 in 2025
The number of U.S. farms shrank by 15,000 in 2025, bringing the total to 1.865 million, USDA said (last week) in its Land in Farms report. This continues a long-lasting…
USDA Crop Data Reliability Remains Under Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, long the world's gold standard for crop estimates, faces mounting doubts about the reliability of its data from farmers, grain traders and economists following deep…
Farm Income to Fall in 2026 Despite Hefty Gov’t Payments
In a sign of growing stress for U.S. farmers, the Agriculture Department forecast on Thursday that U.S. net farm income would fall 0.7% this year, despite near-record government payments that…
Brazil Surpasses US as Top Global Beef Producer
Brazil surpassed the U.S. as the world's top beef producer last year, according to market estimates, after the South American country beat output forecasts by hundreds of thousands of tons,…
USDA Says 2025 Corn Production Hit 17 Billion Bushels, Likely to Keep Prices Low
Corn futures plunged to the lowest levels since August after USDA stunned the market by boosting its 2025 U.S. crop estimate above 17 billion bushels for the first time, signaling…
USDA Projects $37 Billion Ag Trade Deficit in FY26
The USDA is projecting that the ag trade deficit will shrink in FY2026 even more than previously anticipated. USDA expects the trade deficit to fall from $43.7 billion in FY2025…
20,000 Employees Left USDA in First Half of 2025
More than 20,300 employees left the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the first five months of the administration of President Donald Trump, about a fifth of staff, according to a…
USDA Receives Mostly Negative Feedback on Reorganization Plan
The Agriculture Department received overwhelmingly negative feedback on its plan to relocate thousands of staff and consolidate dozens of offices, as employees, lawmakers and stakeholders said it could lead to…
Bird Flu Surging as Holiday Season Begins
As the holidays approach, bird flu is once again sweeping through commercial and backyard poultry flocks, infecting and killing more than 8.9 million turkeys, chickens, and ducks in the U.S…
USDA Set for First Crop Data Release Since September
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release a hotly anticipated crop report, including the government's first estimates of the two feed crops since mid-September, before the…
USDA Will Release Nov. WASDE, Crop Production Reports
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) said on Friday that it will release several key agriculture reports in November, including a monthly crop supply and demand…
Gov’t Shutdown Hits Crucial Tools for Farmers, Commodity Traders
The government shutdown is creating financial heartburn for farmers across the country, stalling the delivery of farm loans, the release of critical market reports and the Trump administration’s plans for…
USDA Puts Researchers on Leave After Canceling Hunger Report
The team of federal economists and researchers responsible for producing the government survey that measures hunger in America were put on indefinite paid leave Monday from the USDA, according to…
USDA Again Increases Corn Planted Acreage, Production
The USDA this past Friday raised its 2025 U.S. corn production estimate to a record 16.814 billion bushels. It projected a record average yield of 186.7 bushels per acre, down…
USDA Projects Ag Trade Deficit Will Fall to $41.5 Billion in 2026
USDA’s quarterly trade outlook lowered the projected trade deficit for fiscal 2025 to $47 billion from the $49.5 billion estimated in June. The deficit is projected to drop to $41.5…
USDA Forecasts Record Corn Yield and Production
The USDA on Tuesday forecast a record corn crop at a whopping 16.7 billion bushels with record yields projected for corn at 188.8 bushels per acre -- shattering another record…
Ag Trade Deficit Hits Record High In First Half of 2025
The US agricultural trade deficit hit a record high in the first half of 2025, with the value of agricultural exports trailing that of imports by $4.1 billion in June…
Corn Futures Dipped Below $4 on Wednesday
Corn futures fell below $4 a bushel (on Wednesday) to the lowest level in about 11 months as favorable US weather continued to weigh on prices ahead of a key…