Noah Wicks

As COVID-19 has prompted a renewed interest in gardening, the USDA National Agricultural Library is highlighting historic initiatives in its digital exhibit “Small Agriculture.”

As the spread of COVID-19 in April slowed meat processing facilities and important Latin American trading partners lost purchasing power, U.S. beef exports fell below last year's totals and pork exports grew at a slower rate than in the first quarter.

The American Farmland Trust announced a new model geared toward increasing the use of conservation practices in the Great Lakes Basin by engaging women landowners, the operators who lease their land, and agricultural retailers through workshops, toolkits and “learning circles.”

Specialty crop farms spent more than three times more money on labor costs than other types of operations, according to data from USDA’s 2018 Agricultural Resources Management Survey.

Producer optimism increased in May, according to a survey conducted the same week USDA released details about the $16 billion in direct payments through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

As businesses closed their doors and stay-at-home orders were put in place, consumers purchased more dairy products, the National Milk Producers Federation says.