Articles by Philip Brasher

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to ease recordkeeping requirements for cattle being moved across state lines while ensuring that federal or state inspectors have access to information they need during a disease outbreak.

As governor of Florida, Jeb Bush was sometimes forced to defend comments or positions that critics felt were too soft on illegal immigration, according to his newly released email correspondence.

USDA is demanding that processors label raw poultry and meat products more clearly to ensure consumers are aware of added saltwater and other solutions. A final rule to be published in the Federal Register will require labels to include the percentage of added solution and the individual ingredient

The cost of a livestock disaster program has soared to more than $4 billion this year ? far beyond what Congress expected ? even as auditors are finding that earlier payments under the program were rife with errors. The payments are being made under USDA?s Livestock Forage Program, which was create

Agriculture Department economists have lowered their estimate for food inflation this year despite big increases in the price of beef, pork and eggs. USDA?s Economic Research Service estimates that food prices will wind up 2.25 percent to 3.25 percent higher this year than in 2013, closer to the l

Starbucks says it will to shift to cage-free eggs and pork raised without the use of sow gestation crates as the coffee chain upgrades requirements for its suppliers. The company says it will eliminate practices such as tail-docking in dairy production and the use of artificial growth hormones and

Farmers are expected to trim their plantings of corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat amid a steep drop in expected profits, USDA said today in its first projections for 2015. The forecast also indicates that corn and wheat growers will qualify for subsidies under the 2014 Farm Bill?s Price Loss Coverag

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is dropping plans to create a second beef checkoff in the wake of a congressional directive telling him not to implement a new program. Vilsack's decision is a victory for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the largest contractor for the existing program.

President Obama?s plan to ease financial restrictions on trade with Cuba could help reverse a decline in agricultural exports to the island nation, but his move is likely to face stiff opposition in Congress. The president?s plan includes easing Treasury Department regulations and also allowing sal

The Senate tonight gave final congressional approval to a bill reinstating more than 50 expired tax breaks, including the Section 179 expensing allowance that some farmers had been waiting on before buying new tractors and other equipment. The bill, which now goes to President Obama.