Articles by Bill Tomson

The Trump administration vowed Thursday to make it easier for farmers to bring in foreign laborers to help pick their crops and milk their cows, but offered few details on promised policy to address one of the ag sector’s most pressing concerns.

U.S. negotiators are pushing for China to increase its imports of U.S. agriculture commodities by about $25 billion, which would more than double the roughly $20 billion the country now buys annually, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Wednesday.

Jesús Ahumada manages nine shrimp farms in Guasave, Mexico, and for years he’s been using the same method to decide when the crop needs to be harvested – a mixture of experience and instinct. While he says he’s pretty good at it, he’s also the first to admit the computerized artificial intelligence system that Cargill helped install does it a lot better.

China’s decision to scrap its anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases and a 179 percent tariff on U.S. sorghum has energized U.S. industry officials who hope it’s a sign that U.S.-Chinese trade relations are improving.

You won’t find any tourists in the muddy, mosquito-ridden town of Barcarena in Brazil’s state of Pará, but you can’t miss the almost constant parade of trucks pulling in and out of port facilities under the scorching sun or torrential rainfall on the country’s northern coast.

Friday will be the last day at USDA for Senior White House Advisor Sam Clovis as he prepares to head home to Sioux City, Iowa.