USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden filled in for his boss at the 2025 Farm Progress Show Tuesday, chatting on the mainstage with Mike Pearson of This Week in AgriBusiness and answering question from farm reporters on site. The first topic addressed was New World Screwworm in light of the latest headlines about human case in Maryland. “So the …
USDA Forecasts Record Corn Crop
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is forecasting a record corn crop this year, up 13% from last year, forecast at 16.7 billion bushels. Meanwhile, soybean growers are expected to decrease their production by two percent from 2024 to 4.29 billion bushels. Average corn yield is forecast at a record high 188.8 bushels per acre, up 9.5 bushels from last …
Alltech Gets USDA Grant for Biological Fertilizer Production
Alltech has been awarded a $2.34 million grant from the USDA’s Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP) to expand Alltech Crop Science’s (ACS) biological fertilizer production in Kentucky. The funding will support the construction of a new $4.6 million, 15,000-square-foot manufacturing facility dedicated to producing biological fertilizers and crop inputs. Located on the campus of Alltech’s global headquarters in Nicholasville, Kentucky, …
USDA Unveils National Farm Security Action Plan
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins was joined by three other cabinet members, three governors, several members of the House and Senate, and other officials at USDA headquarters Tuesday to announce the National Farm Security Action Plan. “This Action Plan puts America’s farmers, families, and future first—exactly where they belong. Under President Trump’s leadership, American agriculture will be strong, secure, and …
America’s 250th to Celebrate Agriculture
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins was the opening act for President Donald J. Trump on the eve of Independence Day at the Iowa State Fairgrounds last week where he announced the Great American State Fair celebration for America’s 250th birthday. “It will start right here in Iowa,” said President Trump. “The Great American State Fair will bring America 250 programming …
Secretary Rollins Concludes Trade Mission to Italy
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins concluded her trade mission to Rome, Italy last week in an effort to improve agricultural market access and expand the reach of the American agricultural industry across the European Union. During her visit, Secretary Rollins held a bilateral meeting with her Italian counterpart, Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Forests Francesco Lollobrigida and discussed the …
MAHA Creates Concerns for Farmers
President Donald Trump’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission issued its first report on childhood health Thursday, creating concerns in the agriculture community about what it could mean for the future of crop protection tools. Making the announcement at the White House with President Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy said the report is a call to action …
Rollins Gets Airtime for Agriculture
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has taken a much more visible role in the new Trump Administration than previous agriculture secretaries, appearing three times this month already on Fox News, most recently this past Sunday. In a wide-ranging interview with Shannon Bream, Rollins talked about a number of issues, from tariffs and trade to the price of eggs, and spent …
Ag Secretary Visits Iowa
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins visited Iowa Monday, starting the day at an ethanol plant where she was joined by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. Rollins also toured a hog farm, and met with soybean producers and agriculture leaders from across Iowa, before …
USDA Farm Production and Conservation Leaders Announced
Key presidential appointments to the USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area were announced today. Brooke Shupe Appleton is already serving as the Deputy Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation. Previously, she served as Vice President of Public Policy for the National Corn Growers Association. She spoke in place of Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins Tuesday during National …