tom vilsack

Agriculture again will be a point of focus at this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan and several U.S. representatives, including from the agricultural sector, will participate in COP29; a far cry, according to Ernie Shea of Solutions from the Land, from about 15 years ago...

On Thursday, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is funding new projects in nearly every state to lower costs, expand access to clean energy and strengthen American farms and small businesses.  USDA is making the investments through the Rural Energy for America Program, better known as REAP.   “...

After bird flu has been detected in dairy cattle across the country, including here in the Northwest, there have been talks about the USDA testing milk samples to determine if H5N1 is present.  How would testing those samples work?   “...

The USDA is issuing payments this week to agricultural producers impacted by natural disasters.  The assistance includes $143 million in crop insurance indemnities for Florida producers impacted by Hurricane Milton and over $92 million for livestock producers nationwide who have faced increased supplemental feed costs as a result of forage losses due to 2022 qualifying drought and wildfire events.

This week, the USDA announced $1.5 billion for 92 partner-driven conservation projects through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.  The Department of Ag said recipients will provide $968 million in contributions to amplify the impact of the federal investment.  Selecte...

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...

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced additional assistance to help producers impacted by Hurricane Helene in their recovery process.  USDA is announcing that counties that have triggered for payment under the Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement for Hurricane Helene.  As a re...

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack emphasized USDA’s commitment to connecting local farmers and producers with schools nationwide that serve meals to about 30 million children every school day.  Vilsack, joining others across the country in celebrating National School Lunch Week and National Farm to School Month, pointed to the Department’s recent investment of $500 million for schools to purchase unprocess

USDA's enhanced animal disease traceability rule, including visual and electronic identification tags for cattle and bison, is scheduled to go into effect early next month.  Some stakeholders have expressed privacy concerns, but Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack doesn’t think producers need to be worried.   “I don...

With the expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill on September 30th, the question running through farm county is what programs have stopped and what programs continue?   “Some programs that are called orphan programs that effective September 30th basically stopped," said Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.  "There a...