Agri-Pulse staff

Officials, community leaders and citizens participated in 4,700 events across the country in honor of Wednesday’s third annual Food Day, according to the campaign that coordinated the celebration

As House and Senate farm bill conferees prepare for their first official public meeting next Wednesday, a group of bipartisan Representatives and Senators today delivered two “Dear Colleague” letters to House and Senate leadership earlier today

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) reiterated its members’ preferences for a final farm bill in a letter to House and Senate conference committee members today. NAWG emphasized a high priority for a strong crop insurance system, as well as trade export programs.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endorsed the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan, an effort to conserve a species proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) today sent a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate conference committee on the farm bill outlining the top recommendations of America’s farmer-owned businesses in the legislation.

A federal court Wednesday ruled in favor of West Virginia poultry farmer Lois Alt in a lawsuit she brought against the Environmental Protection Agency.

House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders announced today that the first public meeting for the 2013 Farm Bill conference committee will be held next week on Wednesday, October 30 at 1:00 p.m. ET

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA has begun distributing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) annual rental payments, while the department will distribute 2013 direct payments and 2012 Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program payments beginning Oct. 24.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today introduced USDA's first Farm to School Census for the school year 2011-2012, which indicated that schools participating in farm to school activities purchased and served over $350 million in local food.

In a letter sent to farm bill conferees this morning, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) outlined the reforms to crop insurance and investments in conservation, among other provisions, that it would like to see in a completed farm bill between the House and Senate.