Articles by Steve Davies

Former Vice President Joe Biden is making President Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis a major campaign focus, and he’s expanded the criticism to include Trump’s management of the disruptions in the food supply.

Commodity groups are applauding USDA for moving forward with the new $16 billion coronavirus relief program. But many groups say the payments won’t be nearly as large as they need to be and are renewing their appeals to Congress for additional funding.

Questions linger about the efficiency of USDA's new Farmers to Families food box program and why the Agricultural Marketing Service gave contracts to some companies that appeared unqualified to fulfill them.

The Food and Drug Administration and USDA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding designed to help prevent interruptions at FDA-regulated food facilities, including fruit and vegetable processing, the agencies announced Tuesday.

President Donald Trump will be joined by farm leaders at the White House today amid expectations that he will announce the release of $16 billion in coronavirus relief payments to producers.

The White House Office of Management and Budget on Friday completed its review of USDA’s plans to provide farmers with $16 billion in direct payments. That means USDA could announce signup for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program any day.

The Trump administration has finalized the first major changes to regulation of agricultural biotechnology in more than three decades.

The Agriculture Department has finalized a sweeping overhaul of its approval process for biotech crops that will exempt some gene modifications from regulation and allow developers to decide on their own whether their products qualify.

It looks like farm groups will largely stay on the sidelines as the House moves toward a vote on Democrats’ giant coronavirus relief bill, even though it would authorize $16.5 billion more in direct farm payments plus other aid to producers.

USDA is moving closer to launching signup for those $16 billion in direct COVID-19 payments that have been promised to farmers. The department is holding a webinar Thursday for farmers on the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.