USDA Partners with S.C. to Award More Than $4 Million to Strengthen Food Supply Chain

Clint ThompsonSouth Carolina

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced last week it has a cooperative agreement with South Carolina under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI). The USDA and South Carolina are working together to offer more than $4 million in competitive grant funding for projects designed to build resilience across the middle of the …

USDA Announces December 2023 Lending Rates for Producers

Clint ThompsonUSDA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced loan interest rates for December 2023, which became effective Dec. 1, 2023. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans provide important access to capital to help farmers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures or meet cash flow needs.     “I encourage our lenders and borrowers alike to work with …

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USDA Now Accepting Applications for Farm Loans Online

Dan CooperAgribusiness, Specialty Crops, USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched an online application for Direct Loan customers. More than 26,000 customers who submit a Direct Loan application each year can now use an online, interactive, guided application that is paperless and provides helpful features including an electronic signature option, the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns, complete a balance …

USDA Invites Producers to Respond to Irrigation and Water Management Survey

Clint ThompsonIrrigation

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) mailed survey codes to a selected sample of irrigators across the 50 states with an invitation to respond online to the 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey. The survey is a special study to the 2022 Census of Agriculture and provides the only comprehensive dataset of irrigation …

USDA Announces ’22 Census of Ag Details

Clint ThompsonUSDA

WASHINGTON – The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will release the 2022 Census of Agriculture data on Feb. 13, 2024. NASS concluded the data collection this summer with a preliminary national return rate of 61%. The ag census, conducted once every five years, was mailed to more than 3 million producers across the United …

USDA Announces Planned Trade Missions for ’24

Clint ThompsonUSDA

WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced last week the next steps in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s efforts to bolster U.S. agricultural trade, including the department’s planned trade missions for 2024 and the opening of a public comment period for the new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP). These efforts will help to support further growth in agricultural exports and …

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USDA Invests Nearly $28 Million to Support Beginning Farmers and Ranchers

Web AdminLegislative, USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced an investment of $27.9 million across 45 organizations that teach and train beginning farmers and ranchers, including programs for U.S. veterans who are entering into agricultural careers and starting new farming businesses. “The next generation of farmers and ranchers hold the promise for future American agriculture and rural …

USDA ERS Research: Organic Blueberry Production on Rise

Web AdminBlueberries, USDA

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) study has concluded that organic blueberry production has expanded tremendously over the past decade. Yields reached 77.5 million pounds in 2019 compared to 11.9 million pounds in 2008. Florida has contributed to the rise in organic yields. It produced less than 160,000 pounds in 2008 but increased to 1.9 million …

USDA ERS Study: Organic Strawberry Production on Rise

Web AdminStrawberry, USDA

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) study concludes organic strawberry production has helped increase domestic production over the past two decades. Most organic strawberries are produced in California, though Florida has experienced increased production in recent years. Approximately 680 organic acres were produced in Florida in 2019, compared to just 14 in 2008. From 2008 to …

USDA AFRI Grant to Allow Researchers to Help Southern Blueberry Growers in States Like Alabama

Web AdminAlabama, Blueberries

A nearly half-a-million-dollar grant will allow Auburn University professors and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station researchers to help blueberry growers in states like Alabama where growing the fruit has its challenges. Funded by a $497,827 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), the project is titled, “Expanding Southern highbush blueberries to underserved regions of the …