October 11, 2022
USDA Invests $14M to Strengthen Hispanic-serving Higher Education Programs
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh announced at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ 36th Annual Conference an investment of $14 million to Hispanic-serving higher education institutions to support Hispanic student learning experiences in the agricultural and human science sectors.
Biden-Harris Administration Invests $80 Million to Improve Nutrition in School Meals
The Biden-Harris Administration provided $50 million in grants for schools to invest in new food service equipment that will allow them to continue serving nutritious meals. Today’s funding adds to the $30 million in equipment grants that the administration gave schools earlier this year. This announcement comes as USDA stands with partners and advocates in the child nutrition community to celebrate National School Lunch Week (October 10-14), a time to recognize the critical nutrition that school meals provide to tens of millions of children every school day.
October 12, 2022
President Biden Designates Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument
President Biden established the 53,804-acre Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, preserving a unique era of military history, as well as a visually and culturally rich landscape with broad recreation opportunities.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced that USDA is awarding $110 million in grants to improve health care facilities in rural towns (PDF, 423 KB) across the Nation. These grants will help 208 rural health care organizations expand critical services for nearly 5 million people in 43 states and Guam.
October 13, 2022
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking public comment on how it should implement Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a provision that aims to provide assistance to the nation’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA’s farm lending programs. Section 22007 provides a transformative opportunity for USDA to help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners impacted by discrimination in USDA farm lending programs. IRA Section 22007 directs USDA to provide financial assistance to producers who have experienced discrimination in USDA’s farm lending programs and has appropriated $2.2 billion for this purpose.
USDA Extends Flexibility that’s Helping Manufacturers, States get Formula to WIC Families
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending a key funding flexibility in the WIC program that has allowed state agencies and their infant formula manufacturers to work together to provide more options for WIC families in need of formula. Under this flexibility – which is now extended through the end of December – USDA is covering the added cost of non-contract formula to make it financially feasible for states to allow WIC participants to purchase alternate sizes, forms, or brands of infant formula.
October 14, 2022
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) released a proposed regulatory framework for a new strategy to control Salmonella
USDA Announces More Than $71 Million to Support Underserved Communities
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a more than $71 million investment to help underserved communities. Funding is made possible through two key USDA programs: USDA’s 2501 Program and the American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Investment Program. These investments are part of USDA’s commitment to take aggressive action to advance equity for all, especially for farmers and producers in underserved communities.
October 17, 2022
USDA Formalizes Big Game Conservation Partnership with State of Wyoming
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the state of Wyoming are formalizing a partnership to support the voluntary conservation of private working lands and migratory big game populations in Wyoming. As part of the agreement signed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Governor Mark Gordon (PDF, 1.4 MB), USDA will provide a new package of investments in key conservation programs for fiscal year 2023, which includes funding to support increased staffing capacity and the deployment of streamlined program application processes for agricultural producers and landowners. Producers in the Wyoming pilot area will be able to apply for conservation programs that meet their unique needs starting this fall.
October 18, 2022
USDA Provides Payments of nearly $800 Million in Assistance to Help Keep Farmers Farming
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that distressed borrowers with qualifying USDA farm loans have already received nearly $800 million in assistance, as part of the $3.1 billion in assistance for distressed farm loan borrowers provided through Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA directed USDA to expedite assistance to distressed borrowers of direct or guaranteed loans administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) whose operations face financial risk.
October 19, 2022
USDA Makes Major Investments in WIC to Improve Maternal and Child Health
The U.S. Department of Agriculture acknowledges major progress and promise in several modernization and innovation efforts for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC. Efforts include the award of nearly $53 million across three major grants funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Combined, these investments will help WIC reach more eligible mothers and young children and improve the service they receive throughout their entire experience with the program, setting them up for healthy outcomes and helping to reduce longstanding disparities in maternal and child health.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and USAID Administrator Samantha Power released the U.S. government’s Global Food Security Research Strategy, underscoring the U.S. government’s commitment to ending hunger and malnutrition and building medium to long-term sustainable resilient food systems. The new research strategy emphasizes priority objectives and the use of data to help strengthen the impact of U.S. food security assistance and, with America’s leadership, generate sustainable solutions for addressing the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, which are both inextricably linked to entrenched, extreme poverty.
October 21, 2022
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Department is investing $11.1 million under the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program to help Crystal Freeze Dry LLC expand capacity to manufacture freeze-dried egg products and create job opportunities for people living in rural Iowa. The funding is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to strengthen critical food supply chain infrastructure to create more thriving communities for the American people.
October 26, 2022
Deputy Secretary Bronaugh To Lead East Africa Agribusiness Trade Mission
Representatives from 32 agribusiness and farm organizations will join Deputy Agriculture Secretary Jewel Bronaugh for an agribusiness trade mission to Nairobi, Kenya, and Zanzibar, Tanzania, Oct. 31 – Nov. 4.
USDA Invests $14.2 Million in 52 Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Efforts
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $14.2 million in 52 grants that support urban agriculture and innovative production. This investment, which includes American Rescue Plan Act funds, will allow grant recipients to expand access to nutritious foods, foster community engagement, increase awareness of climate change and mitigate the effects within urban areas, provide jobs, educate communities about farming, and expand green spaces.
October 27, 2022
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Department is providing $759 million to bring high-speed internet access (PDF, 204 KB) to people living and working across 24 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Palau. Today’s investments include funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides a historic $65 billion to expand reliable, affordable, high-speed internet to all communities across the U.S.
USDA Announces Early Release of Select Commodity Tables for Agricultural Projections to 2032
On November 7, 2022, at 3 p.m. EST, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will release selected tables from the upcoming USDA Agricultural Projections to 2032 report prepared in support of the President’s annual budget process as defined in the Budget Control Act. These tables will include 10-year projections for major U.S. crops and livestock products and will be followed in February 2023 by USDA’s Agricultural Projections to 2032 report that will include a full discussion of the commodity supply and use projections, and projections for farm income and global commodity trade.
Biden-Harris Administration Expands Rural Partners Network to North Carolina
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the expansion of the Rural Partners Network (RPN) to several communities in North Carolina. RPN is an all-of-government program that partners with rural people to access resources and funding to create local jobs, build infrastructure and support long-term economic stability on their own terms.
USDA Opens Registration for the 2023 Agricultural Outlook Forum
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that registration is now open for the 99th annual Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF), USDA’s largest and premier annual event. The two-day event will be held in-person at the Crystal City Gateway Marriott on February 23-24, 2023, and all sessions will be livestreamed on a virtual platform.
October 28, 2022
The Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) have signed a landmark 20-year national master stewardship agreement. This first-of-its-kind agreement paves the way for these partner organizations to work together to address the wildfire crisis in the West and promote healthy forests across the U.S. It also includes an initial $50 million commitment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as regular agency appropriations and other sources.
