Washington, D.C. - Today, in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Farm Action submitted a public comment urging the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service to update how it classifies the size of meat, poultry, and egg processors, arguing that the current definitions ...

By: Michael Standaert BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota News Cooperative) - Are you doing okay? I'm here if you need to vent. How can I help? I know you're going through a rough patch. Melissa Markegard, North Dakota Health and Human Services suicide prevention administrator, said an important piece of suicide prevention i...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's AgrAbility program, led by the National AgrAbility Project and housed at Purdue University's Breaking New Ground Resource Center in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, has been included in Forbes' Accessibility 200 list. The list highlig...

BROOKINGS, S.D. - There will be an environmental training session for operators of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) on June 23, 2026, at the Crossroads Convention Center in Huron. Check-in starts at 8:15 a.m. with the program following at 8:45 a.m. and concluding at approximately 4:45 p.m. Registration is...

The USDA is continuing to evaluate possible tariff relief options for farmers impacted by trade disputes and rising production costs, according to USDA officials. Reports said the department has been analyzing potential assistance measures as farmers face weaker export demand and higher costs for machinery, fertilizer ...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says new international trade agreements are designed to create additional export opportunities for American agriculture as officials work to reduce the nation's agricultural trade deficit. According to USDA information released this month, agreements with countries including Taiwan, B...

Farmers for Soil Health has opened enrollment for its 2026 cover crop incentive program, offering higher payments and shorter contract terms aimed at encouraging broader participation among row-crop producers. The farmer-led initiative said enrollment will remain open through Aug. 31 for eligible growers in 20 particip...

China has suspended beef imports from three Brazilian meatpacking plants after detecting synthetic veterinary hormones in cattle, according to a report by Globo Rural and confirmed by Reuters. The affected plants are operated by JBS, Prima Foods and Frialto. China prohibits the use of certain synthetic hormones in beef...

Low water levels on the Mississippi River are increasing transportation costs for American farmers as drought conditions continue to disrupt barge traffic along one of the nation's most important agricultural shipping routes. According to the Associated Press, barge operators have been forced to reduce cargo loads to p...

California peach growers are removing hundreds of thousands of trees after the closure of Del Monte canning facilities left farmers without a major buyer for cling peaches, according to Fortune magazine. The report said one Del Monte plant had processed roughly 30% of California's cling peach crop. Growers now expect a...

St. Paul, Minn. - The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Soil Health Financial Assistance Program (SHFAP) again saw exceptional demand this year, awarding 166 grants totaling almost $4.7 million to support conservation practices that build soil health and protect Minnesota's water resources. Funding reached farms an...

Recent studies by North Dakota State University revealed that U.S. tariffs and resulting retaliatory actions are driving significant economic losses for American agriculture, heavily impacting exports and raising farming costs. The study found that retaliatory tariffs from China caused roughly $15 billion in annualized...

America's sugarbeet and sugarcane producers are applauding a bipartisan group of lawmakers urging the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate what they describe as unfair foreign sugar trade practices harming the domestic sugar industry. The letter was signed by more than 110 members of Congress. Lawmakers called on t...

The Justice Department announced Bayer CropScience has agreed to remove potentially anticompetitive provisions from its seed loyalty program amid an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into the corn and soybean seed markets. The DOJ said Bayer modified its Premier Performance Program after concerns were raised that...

Cargill has stopped paying approximately 1,700 employees at its beef processing facility in Fort Morgan, Colorado, as a labor dispute between the company and Teamsters Union workers continues to escalate. According to the workers' union, the company halted pay on Wednesday after suspending cattle slaughter operations a...

U.S. ethanol production climbed to its highest level in five weeks while inventories edged slightly higher, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration. Ethanol output averaged 1.111 million barrels per day during the week ending May 15, up from 1.082 million barrels the previous week. It marked th...

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is teaming up with a broad coalition of farm, food, and commodity organizations to support a statewide Farm Suicide Prevention Campaign. The campaign, which kicked off during May's Mental Health Awareness Month, looks to highlight the realities farmers experience and provide reso...

Precipitation patterns across the Midwest were defined by an intense, localized corridor of heavy rainfall contrasting with widespread dryness elsewhere. The most significant hydrological activity occurred across southern Iowa, northern and central Missouri, and west-central Illinois, where a series of storm complexes ...

WASHINGTON - Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Representatives Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.) and Troy Carter (D-La.) led a bipartisan, bicameral effort, along with 108 of their colleagues, in support of efforts by U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer to utilize a Section 301 inves...

USDA announced new steps aimed at expanding domestic fertilizer production and lowering input costs for American farmers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the administration plans to accelerate permitting for fertilizer projects and revive a grant program to support domestic production. The effort could increa...