Ag Policy Blog

With all USDA Service Centers closed to walk-in visitors, USDA wants farmers to know they can set up phone appointments with the local Farm Service Agency or Natural Resources Conservation Service staffs or work with those offices through email or USDA's websites.

USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative's Office keep sending out updates detailing how China has advanced certain procedures and processes to boost U.S. agricultural exports to China, and what the U.S. has done to reciprocate.

While the country waits for the U.S. Senate to break a voting logjam on a coronavirus stimulus bill, the legislation has a few key provisions for USDA.

A single COVID-19 case shows up at a small-town health clinic and the clinic is closed and staff under quarantine. That scenario highlights some of the challenges dealing with the virus in rural America.

Senators on Thursday sent a letter to the Department of Justice over concerns tied to cattle and boxed beef prices. The Department of Homeland Security also designated food and agriculture one of 16 critical sectors in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, meaning workers in...

The American Farm Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers Council each raised similar concerns about labor and transportation as the federal government continues issuing new rules or emergency declarations related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Renewable Fuels Association said Monday that the government should help the "liquid fuel industries," including ethanol producers while Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said he found biofuels leaders "very nervous" when he met with them last week.

After a telephone conversation with leaders of the nation's grocery companies about the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump on Sunday urged Americans to buy only as much food and other grocery store products as they need and not to hoard...

While coverage of coronavirus and the markets somewhat overwhelmed Thursday, here are a couple of items that came across in emails that producers may want to watch going forward.

Like much of the country right now, the coronavirus is forcing some high-profile agricultural events to shutdown.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, stressed to reporters Tuesday morning that President Donald Trump would benefit in rural America if he simply let stand the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision last month against EPA's small refinery exemption program.

Eight senators from states bordering the Missouri River below the dams introduced legislation Thursday that would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the risk of floods and improve protections on the lower Missouri River.

As National Farmers Union's new president wrapped up the first policy session under his day-old leadership at the annual meeting, Rob Larew emphasized policy direction that would help focus on more certainty for family farmers going forward.

In his last speech before turning over the reins of National Farmers Union to an incoming president, Roger Johnson warned farmers to watch out for what happens to farm income and trade when Market Facilitation Program payments end.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Hoeven, R-N.D., announced Friday that sugar cooperatives will receive $285 million in disaster assistance to help growers impacted by disasters.

Trump administration officials on Tuesday detailed some of the actions China has taken to implement a trade deal with China, which includes excluding and reducing tariffs on certain agricultural products.

USDA has announced a new pilot program that enables farmers in the Prairie Pothole region to receive payments for planting cover crops on their land for three to five years.

Just 24 hours after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue tried to shut the door on Market Facilitation Program payments for 2020, President Donald Trump kicked the door back open on Twitter.

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Michael Conaway, R-Texas, who is retiring, said Monday at a crop insurance industry meeting in Florida that his greatest fear about crop insurance is a fraud case.

The number of Americans without Internet service is 42 million, which is double the Federal Communications Commission's estimate of 21.3 million, according to a report issued by BroadbandNow Research.