Bill Tomson

The U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department are dispatching $54 million in food, water, hygiene supplies, blankets and other emergency goods to Ukrainians trying to survive the invasion of Russian troops.

The war in Ukraine may impede the country’s ability to export millions of tons of wheat and corn to China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey and elsewhere, and U.S. grain could be called on to fill the supply gap.

U.S. farmers are already suffering from high fertilizer costs, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday warned suppliers not to try to take advantage of the chaos from the Russian invasion of Ukraine by raising prices.

USDA expects U.S. ag exports to hit a new record this year and projects continued strong prices for major commodities this year while acknowledging that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has injected new uncertainty into world markets.

The Transportation Department is announcing today that it’s making $450 million in grant funds available this year to expand port capacity, and some of that money may go towards improving the ability of ag exporters to ship commodities to overseas buyers, according to senior government officials.

It’s been three weeks since Canada submitted its proposal to fix the way it runs its dairy quotas under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but there’s still no word from the Biden administration on accepting it and preventing yet another trade dispute between Ottawa and Washington that could affect far more than just dairy.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has announced more findings of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the U.S., this time in what it called a “non-commercial, non-poultry flock” in Maine.

USDA is again inspecting Mexican avocados, allowing the resumption of exports to the U.S., which cannot come close to meeting consumer demand with domestic production.