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The Agriculture Department announced today that, in an effort to promote transparency and competitive markets, it will be releasing two new USDA Market News reports providing additional insight into cattle trades.

The nominee for undersecretary of natural resources and environment at USDA, who will oversee the Forest Service, promised he would work closely with local communities in managing the more than 190 million acres of national forests to prevent wildfires and create markets for wood products.

A former chair of the House Agriculture Committee is warning the committee about the potential downside of creating a permanent disaster assistance program for producers. Speaking on a panel at Minnesota’s Farmfest Wednesday, Collin Peterson said it’s important that the program not undermine crop insurance.

The Biden administration is not letting up pressure on Mexico to resume its approvals of genetically modified crops and is continuing to formulate its next steps in addressing the precarious trade relationship with China, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Agri-Pulse in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal 2022 spending bill for the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration that includes about $7 billion in disaster assistance and $700 million for USDA’s ReConnect program for rural broadband.

More than 200 groups, including a wide range of environmental organizations, are calling on Democratic congressional leaders today to use their reconciliation package to significantly increase funding for conservation programs.

A massive bipartisan infrastructure bill the Senate is debating this week would make a historic $65 billion investment in expanding high-speed internet, but the bulk of the funding would be routed through states, and rural broadband advocates want to see the Agriculture Department play a bigger role in distributing the funding.

Canada is again using its national dairy pricing program to bolster exports, sidestepping commitments in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to fresh allegations from the U.S. dairy sector. Canada is following the letter of USMCA, but not the spirit, U.S. industry officials say.

A recent memo from the Farm Credit Administration to farm credit banks and associations on hemp financing has a prominent hemp industry group concerned that many growers could have difficulty obtaining loans they need to expand their operations.

Public protests in communist Cuba are rare, so when people recently took to the streets to demonstrate in protest against the government, the world took notice and America’s ag sector is still weighing the implications for trade between the two countries.