Search

POLICY priorities for the cattle industry have a new focus due to the price fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which is estimated at $13.6 billion, but the real economic [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka This time of year is my favorite, with the leaves changing and combines rolling. And as the season changes from the warmth of summer to the coolness [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka As part of the discussion around the administration's new Cancer Moonshot Initiative announced Sept. 12, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that launched a national biotechnology [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka In an effort to continue to support local and regional food systems, USDA announced it will be providing $400 million from the American Rescue Plan for the [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka During his nomination hearing July 28, chief agricultural negotiator nominee Doug McKalip shared with Senate Finance Committee members the experiences that will help guide him if confirmed [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka While speaking in Massachusetts July 20, President Joe Biden announced his latest set of executive actions to turn the 'climate crisis into an opportunity, by creating good-paying [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka During a virtual meeting July 14, United States Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and Kenya's Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina launched [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,' Charles Dickens famously [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka As the Ukraine-Russia conflict continues to draw into question the amount of world grain supplies, USDA took another step May 26 to improve production capacity in the [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Over the weekend in Tokyo, Japan, President Joe Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity to strengthen supply chains and create a more resilient economy for [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Hundreds of proposals from every state applied for USDA's first round of applicants for the agency's previously announced $1 billion in pilot projects that create market opportunities [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka USDA is accepting more than 2 million acres in offers from agricultural producers and landowners through the Conservation Reserve Program general signup, the first of the program's [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka I often say my love for agriculture started when I was 10 years old helping my dad tag newborn baby calves during a very wet spring. I [...]

In an effort to fulfill promises made on the campaign trail, the Biden administration rolled out a new Rural Partners Network to help ensure the many resources allocated under the [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Reagan confirms he is having regular discussions with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in evaluating what flexibilities the Biden administration has around [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka The signup period for 2022 coverage under USDA's Dairy Margin Coverageprogram has been extended by five weeks to maximize producer participation in this important program. DMC offers [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka What is a climate-smart commodity? How can farmers benefit? Can this help advance climate goals? These are questions seeking science-based answers within a new Partnership for Climate-Smart [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Producers interested in enrolling acres in the Conservation Reserve Program should call ahead to their local USDA field office to begin sign ups starting Jan. 31 until [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka 'Capitalism without competition isn't capitalism. It's exploitation.' The phrase was shared by President Joe Biden in a video address with farmers at the American Farm Bureau Federation [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka When he returned to serve in the cabinet position as secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack had something to prove -- to establish a new era of equity [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka As the voice of farmers representing 6 million members, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall celebrated 2021 victories and called on AFBF members to continue to [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka 'To me, the key to resiliency in the agricultural space is a combination of conservation and innovation,' Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, while visiting Ohio State [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka As we look back at 2021, the unknowns of a new administration and a Democrat-controlled Congress had many of those in agriculture on heightened awareness of what [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack continues to see key members of his leadership team find approval by the Senate as well as the White House. Key undersecretaries [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Flanked by members who helped broker the historic infrastructure investment, President Joe Biden signed into law the $1.2 trillion infrastructure investment on Monday, including over $550 billion [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka There are currently those who seek to restrict or reduce animal protein production, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says the Biden administration will be proactive in [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka After over 100 hours of negotiations with Congressional members in recent months, President Joe Biden announced Thursday morning a Build Back Better framework he hopes can gain [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka The clock is ticking, and it does not appear we have many more answers today than we did several weeks ago on major Congressional proposals that could [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka As the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers under the Biden administration tackle the re-writing of definition of what constitutes a waters of the U.S., [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka The California Department of Food & Agriculture held a public comment session on Aug. 27 on Prop 12 - the new animal housing law that's generating national [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., says she and her House counterpart House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., and other Democrat colleagues are working daily [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka The last time this Congress considered the nearly $2 trillion reconciliation package in the first days of this new administration and Congress, Democrats essentially left the decisions [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Earlier this summer all 50 state farm bureaus signed onto a letter urging the Biden administration to address the surge of undocumented immigrants entering the United States. [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Army intend to revise the definition of the waters of the U.S. - or WOTUS - following [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka In action Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army announced their intent to revise the definition of 'waters of the United States,' claiming [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka As efforts intensify on climate mitigation and encouraging adaptation strategies, one topic commonly discussed is a USDA carbon bank. But what is it and how would it [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit asking the court to vacate and remand three last-minute [...]

POLICY is front and center for pork producers as they deal with top-of-mind issues such as trade, animal disease prevention and labor shortages. Earlier this spring, the National Pork Producers [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Jewel Bronaugh offered her insight to the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 23 as the committee considered her nomination to be deputy secretary of agriculture. She brings [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Heading into this new Congress and administration, all hopes were for bipartisanship and unity as promised by President Joe Biden. Those razor thin margins actually offered a [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka As discussion of the climate ramps up and the role of government, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack looks to take a more calculated approach by utilizing existing [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka The full Senate easily confirmed the nomination of Tom Vilsack to serve as secretary of agriculture and lead the USDA under the Biden administration. The bipartisan vote [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Although many headlines focus on a declining farm income in 2021, the net farm income outlook is still well-above average and offers a positive story for 2021, [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka After watching 8 hours of debate between the Democrats and Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee Wednesday one thing is clear: The committee's history of bipartisanship is [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Under the previous Administration, incentives and rental payment rates were reduced for the Conservation Reserve Program resulting in an enrollment shortfall of more than 4 million acres. [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Jake Feddes, owner of Montana-based Feddes Family Meats, gets 10-15 messages a week asking for his state-inspected small meat processing facility to ship across state lines. Although [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue thanked farm bureau members for their support of the nation's agricultural policies over the last four years and encouraged members to continue [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka It's hard to not feel disheartened by actions on Jan. 6 no matter what side of the aisle you find yourself on. But at the end of [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Farmers like predictability, and we may see that at USDA. But it may not be exactly what you expect. With the official word (finally) Thursday that President-elect [...]

Byline: Jacqui Fatka Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has overseen a huge influx of government payments during his four-year tenure at USDA, but he says moving forward he continues to see [...]