United States Department of Agriculture News

Beefing up could mean meat eaters will have to open up their wallets a little wider this summer, as the price of beef and other meats continue to climb.

In 1994, Haywood Waterways Association began as a small group of citizens concerned about surface water quality in Haywood County.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently published in the April 30 Federal Register a Notice of Solicitation for Nominations for its Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers for two-year membership terms.

Warmer temperatures and dry skies across growing areas of the U.S. have allowed farmers to make huge gains in seeding activities -- although the haste to plant may not necessarily produce the best crop.

A recent study by Michigan State University scientists showed that blueberry growers who plant wildflowers near their fields see an increase in their yields.

If you talk to someone in agriculture long enough, the size of a nearby farm is bound to come up.

Shoppers in the U.S. will soon have more information about where their meat comes from, due to new federal labeling rules that went into effect Thursday.

From 2000 to 2007, around 34-36m Americans were classified by the government as 'food insecure'. In 2008, that figure shot up to 49m, where it has stayed, stubbornly, ever since.

A Canada-U.S. trade war is apparently looming as Ottawa threatens "retaliatory measures" against the United States in a continuing dispute over meat labelling.

USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Doug O'Brien and Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker met Monday to sign an agreement to study the feasibility of bringing commercial scale meat processing to northeast Oklahoma.

The law firm representing black farmers in a major discrimination case against the U.S. government has brought on some K Street help.

A bacteria-like pest of apple trees across Europe has appeared for the first time in North America in an orchard now under federal quarantine in Nova Scotia.

French wheat exporters face tougher competition from the Black Sea this year as crops in Russia and Ukraine recover from drought, erasing the premium paid for Paris-traded futures over the global benchmark in Chicago .

Richmond County has a stronger agricultural industry than 75 percent of the rest of the counties in North Carolina, a state where agriculture is the most important industry at $70 billion.

During the first week of June, leaders of American Agri-Women from across the country will be in the nation's capital for the organization's annual Washington D.C. Fly-In. The 20th Annual Symposium will take place at the National Press Club the morning of Monday, June 3rd.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures climbed to a 9-1/2-month high on Wednesday as fund buying lifted nearby trading months beyond a key technical resistance level, said analysts and traders.

SYNGENTA: GLOBAL MARKETPLACE IS IMPORTING, EXPORTING MORE PESTS May 23, 2013 Source: Syngenta news release In addition to trading more goods and services between continents, a growing global marketplace is also importing and exporting more pests.

U OF ILLINOIS ECONOMISTS: RAPID CORN PLANTING PROGRESS, BUT WELL BELOW THE RECORD PACE May 23, 2013 Source: University of Illinois news release The USDA's weekly Crop Progress report indicated that 43 percent of the U.S. corn acreage was planted during the week ended May 19, 2013.

Exporters of Canadian meat and livestock are waiting to see exactly how the U.S. government will wind up not complying with international trade law on its regulations for mandatory country-of-origin labeling .

CREDO Action is joining forces with Senator Jeff Merkley in the fight to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act: "One of the most outrageous special interest provisions in years." That's what Senator Jeff Merkley calls the Monsanto Protection Act, which became law in March.