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The USDA’s latest effort to get an idea of how far spread Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is in the nation’s dairy herd is about a month old.  That is the second federal order involving milk testing for the H5N1 strain.  Alex Turner of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health inspection Service said the department’s effort includes 28 states enrolled since the start of the month, consisting of nearly 65%

While there’s not much, there is still time for producers suffering losses last year due to specific disasters and adverse conditions to apply for USDA's Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm Raised Fish Program, better known as ELAP.  Far...

Long-time USDA Chief Information Officer Gary Washington has been named the Acting Ag Secretary.  While the newly inaugurated Trump administration is waiting for Senate confirmation of its initial nominations for Cabinet and Cabinet-level officials, one of the first actions by the White House Monday was appointing temporary leaders in several departments.   ...

It may be cold across the Northwest, but these temperatures are nothing like what our friends back east are dealing with right now.  The National Weather Service said multiple low-temperature records could be broken stretching from the upper Midwest to the east coast.  In addi...

In 2023, roughly 86% of all farms across the United States were small, family farms.  A USDA report says these farms have a gross cash income below $350,000 and operate on 41% of all U.S. agricultural land.  The family farms produced 17% of the total value of U.S. agricultural pro...

Now that her time at the USDA has come to an end, former Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Alexis Taylor has joined the International Fresh Produce Association as chief global policy officer.  She will start her new role at the Association on February 18th.   ...

The numbers are in from the National Centers for Environmental Information.   “As it played out, December of 2024 ended up being the 4th warmest December on record, with an average temperature that was more than 5 1/2 degrees above the 20th century mean,” said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.  And he said when yo...

According to World Agricultural Outlook Board chair Mark Jakanowski, beef supplies continue to tighten.   “Year over year beef production is forecast to be down about 1.2 billion pounds.  Part of that reflects as of now, we're still forecasting continued restrictions on cattle imports from Mexico.”   Jakan...

SNAP and conservation programs could be on the GOP chopping block as Congressional Republicans write a budget to pay for extending the Trump 2017 tax cuts.  Hill Republicans have circulated a list of possible budget savings including a reported $22 billion by reforming SNAP, something the House Ag Committee farm bill proposed last year.  That, b...

On Wednesday, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture announced that applications are currently being accepted for the 2025 Specialty Crop Block Grant.   ISDA anticipates receiving over $2 million from the USDA for projects that enhance the competitiveness of Idaho specialty crops.  Th...