Chavonda Jacobs-Young

Ag Research was the Farm Bill title before the Senate Ag Committee this week, as USDA and other witnesses testified on the need to fund cutting-edge Ag research, the power behind modern, high-tech agriculture.  USDA research chief Chavonda Jacobs-Young told lawmakers research in need of funding has largely been ignored over the past couple of Farm Bills.   “...

Last week, the Department of Agriculture announced more than $14 billion in agricultural workforce training for underserved communities.  USDA said the funding will increase the resilience of the U.S. meat and poultry processing sector.  Th...

On a 95-4 vote, the Senate confirmed Chavonda Jacobs-Young as the USDA’s new Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics. In a floor statement before the vote, Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow called Jacobs-Young extremely qualified and says she’ll be the first woman of color to serve in the USDA’s highest scientific post. The Hagstrom ...

When COVID-19 took over every aspect of our lives in the U.S., scientists at USDA's agricultural research service ramped up their focus on the Coronavirus. "what we did have was a level of expertise in the agency that we were able to re-direct some of our animal research scientists to this effort," said ARS Administrator, Chavonda Jacobs-Young ...

When the Washington state Department of Agriculture worked to find the Asian Giant Hornet in early 2020, they turned to USDA's Agricultural Research Service. So, how did ARS help local officials? With a trap. "That trap helped lead us to the nest, the first nest of this invasive insect ...

The World Health Organization issued recommendations on the use of antibiotics in agriculture earlier this week.  And the USDA has responded.   Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Acting Chief Scientist with the USDA, said the WHO guidelines are not in alignment with U.S. policy and ...