Robert Bonnie

The USDA will boost wildlife habitat protection as the Biden administration enters its final months.  In a department memo this week, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack directed agencies to coordinate more closely on protecting lands across different types of ownership, including making wildlife habitat a high priority in various conservation programs.  Vilsack...

Working lands, U.S. farmlands and forests are key to American natural resource conservation efforts.   “Most of the action around climate, smart agriculture and forest really is on the mitigation side," said USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie.  "How can...

Senate Ag members repeatedly stressed the importance of crop insurance and the need to restructure commodity programs in the 2023 Farm Bill during the panel’s latest hearing.   “Crop insurance is the number one risk management tool for producers, but historically, hasn’t been available to some farmers who are most in need of it," said Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow.  "I’m going to conti

Late last week, the USDA announced another phase of assistance will be forthcoming to commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by natural disasters in 2020 and 2021.  Over 18,000 producers will soon be mailed new or updated pre-filled disaster applications to offset eligible crop losses.  About $...

America’s farmers have an opportunity to be a hero in addressing climate change through improvements in productivity and climate-smart practices, so says Robert Bonnie.  However, the USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, recently said a successful climate program “has to work for agriculture.” Bonnie spok...

The Department of Agriculture said the second funding pool through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity received over 600 applications from over 400 groups.  While USDA is in the process of calculating the total requested amount for the second funding pool, the overall interest in the opportunity already exceeds more than $18 billion. Under...

The USDA said the second funding pool through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity received over 600 applications from more than 400 groups.  While USDA is calculating the final numbers, the overall interest in the opportunity already exceeds more than $18 billion. “...

The deadline for the USDA’s second round of funding for Climate-Smart Commodities is Friday, June 10th. This funding pool is for partners proposing projects between $250,000 and $5 million. The proposals should emphasize the enrollment of small and-or underserved producers, and-or monitoring, reporting, and verification activities developed at minority-serving institutions. ...

The deadline for partners to apply for the first round of funding through the new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities is Friday, May 6th. USDA is committed to supporting a diverse set of farmers, ranchers, and forest owners through climate solutions that increase resilience, expand market opportunities, and strengthen rural America ...

Robert Bonnie, USDA undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, appeared at last week’s Commodity Classic Thursday. As the Department of Agriculture seeks ways to include agriculture in the climate solution conversation, Bonnie says farmers are already doing a lot. ...