Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack made a trip to Kansas City to visit with farm broadcasters during the 70th National Association of Farm Broadcasting Annual Convention. The Secretary centered his comments around the RFS announcement, record levels of exports, drought issues and of course, the farm bill. Vilsack started off by thanking all the farm broadcaster for the work that they do …
14 Billion Bushels of Corn!
Despite all the challenges that faced farmers this season, the nation’s corn crop is on track to be a record high 14.0 billion bushels, according to the new crop production report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). NASS revised the planted corn acreage downward in the new report, but increased the yield estimate …
USDA Farm to School Census
So more schools are buying local farm products to serve in their cafeterias according to a USDA survey. That’s a good thing I guess. As a parent I’m more concerned that my kids eat good healthy food. I know this USDA program is part of their efforts to help fight child obesity and hunger. I just don’t see that being …
Cancellation and Postponement of USDA Reports
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) have cancelled or postponed publication of selected USDA statistical reports impacted by the lapse in federal funding. NASS’s Crop Production and Cotton Ginnings reports and the WAOB’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) scheduled for October 11th are canceled. The …
FAPRI: New Farm Bills Have a Lot in Common
Now that the House has named members for a farm bill conference committee and agreed to actually go to conference with the Senate, there is renewed hope that we may yet see a new five year farm bill. All they have to do now is work out the differences between the two versions. Pat Westhoff, the Director of the Food …
USDA Confirms No Reports on Friday
The USDA website is down, no Twitter or Facebook, so the only official word that the big reports due out this week comes by email to those who ask. “USDA will not issue a WASDE report this week due to the lapse in federal funding,” said agency media contact Courtney Rowe by email in response to an email asking for …
USDA Website Shuts Down with Government
Okay, so the government is shut down because Congress is unable to play nice together and find compromise – but why would that shut the USDA website down? I checked out a few other government sites – including EPA, Energy, FDA, the White House and Congress – and none of them are shut down. I can understand not updating, but …
USDA September Crop Forecast
Despite a slowly maturing corn crop impacted by late summer heat, USDA upped its production forecast for the crop this year by a little bit instead of lowering it. Corn production is forecast at 13.8 billion bushels, up less than 1 percent from the August forecast and up 28 percent from 2012. If realized, this will be a new record …
Reaction to Court COOL Decision
A U.S. district court judge today denied a request for a preliminary injunction blocking a final USDA regulation mandating country-of-origin labels (COOL) on meat sold in retail stores until a lawsuit filed July 8 is concluded. That decision made COOL supporters happy but disappointed the plaintiffs, which include U.S. and Canadian meat packer and livestock organizations. “We disagree strongly with …
Telling #MyFarmBill Story on Social Media
USDA and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack are urging you to tell your “MyFarmBill” story via social media. In support of the effort they’ve crated an Instagram account, USDAGov. Here’s the message: At USDA, we remain committed to sharing with all Americans the need for a comprehensive Food, Farm and Jobs Bill to keep up momentum in American agriculture, grow …