Articles Tagged with ''Farm Service Agency''

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack ripped into lawsuits challenging debt relief for minority producers in remarks released Wednesday, asking what those who are challenging the payments did to address previous instances of discrimination the program is meant to address.

Landowners will have until July 23 to apply for the Conservation Reserve Program general signup. USDA announced the deadline Tuesday. The signup opened in January, but USDA announced in April that it would increase payment rates and offer other financial incentives in a bid to get 4 million more acres enrolled in the program.

USDA is rolling out its debt relief program for socially disadvantaged farmers, sending out offer letters to producers eligible for direct loan relief, even as it grapples with how to pay off guaranteed loans in the face of concerns from banks worried about loss of income.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service has agreed to improve its wetland enforcement by taking a risk-based instead of a random approach to its annual compliance check, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott says he’ll be working with Republicans on a landmark bill to help Black farmers, following on the debt relief that was part of the new stimulus package.

Two new officials will begin their roles at USDA on Monday and will bring a wide array of experience working in farm and natural resources policy with Latino and Native American individuals. 

USDA’s Farm Service Agency is extending the general signup period for the Conservation Reserve Program so it can look at ways to close an approximately 3-million-acre gap between the amount enrolled for 2021 and the CRP cap of 25 million acres.

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Virginia Ag Commissioner Jewel Bronaugh to be the next deputy secretary of agriculture, the second highest position at USDA. If confirmed, she would be the first woman of color to hold the position.