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The Food and Drug Administration plans to employ enhanced technology using new data sources to trace food outbreaks to their source, the agency said in a Smarter Era for Food Safety Blueprint released Monday.

The Agriculture Department is making dozens of additional fruits, vegetables and herbs eligible for payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and expanding benefits for some other commodities.

The 2018 farm bill isn’t due to expire until 2023, but there is a growing possibility that Congress could revisit the law as soon as next year either to deal with the slumping farm economy or to address climate change.

Recent years of financial stress and trade disruption in agriculture, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, produced new challenges for farmer-owned agricultural coops and have prompted many to rethink their business models.

Too much product, some high-profile bankruptcies and continued regulatory uncertainty contributed to making 2019 a tough year for hemp growers, but proponents of the versatile plant say it’s still viable in the long term for uses including CBD (short for cannabidiol), food and fiber.

USDA's Farm Service Agency announced Thursday that producers who miss the July 15 acreage reporting deadline will not face a late filing fee if they file within a month of the deadline.

COVID-related shutdowns and slowdowns at meatpacking plants pushed beef exports for May below last year’s levels and pork exports to their lowest level since October, according to data collected by the United States Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

A House spending bill for the Agriculture Department would provide another $1.1 billion for rural broadband in fiscal 2021, a $435-million increase more than Congress provided for this year.

Senators are privately discussing agricultural provisions in the next major coronavirus relief bill, which Republican leaders hope to get passed by the August recess.