We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Terms and Cookie Policy
Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Matt Lohr, who has served as the only appointed chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service during the Trump administration, is leaving USDA, he announced Friday in a social media post.
Countless deteriorating dams on rivers and old farm ponds out in the pastures are in escalating need of rebuilding before disaster strikes again. Some federal help is available for reservoir owners ready for the task.
Understaffed for years, the Natural Resources Conservation Service is making a push to hire more than 1,000 employees so farmers can be assured of receiving technical assistance on conservation practices.
Producers who need to talk with someone at their county office now will have to make an appointment, as COVID-19 cases continue to increase nationwide.
A congressional agreement to fund the government for fiscal 2020 includes an additional $1.5 billion in disaster relief for farmers and would revive the biodiesel tax credit and extend it through 2022.
U.S. dairy farmers are finally experiencing some price relief after four years of an economic downturn in which many farmers struggled to break even. But ongoing economic pressures will require farmers to leave no stone unturned as they seek to become more resilient.
A five-year, USDA-funded study says that producers can’t get the insurance coverage they need either because it’s unavailable for their particular crops or won’t cover their losses adequately because of the conservation practices they follow.
A September 2006 outbreak of E.coli in 26 states that sickened more than 200 people and led to the deaths of three may have been caused by feral swine roaming on a central California spinach farm, according to a study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
If you’d like to see changes in conservation practice standards, now’s your chance. Until April 25, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting comments as part of its review of conservation practice standards mandated by the 2018 Farm Bill and designed to improve the standards and increase flexibility.
