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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering a potential plan to vaccinate poultry against bird flu for the first time that includes evaluating how it would affect exports, the agency told Reuters this week. The actions advance the government's assessment of a vaccine after the USDA received proposals on usage from associations representing egg and turkey producers whose farms have been devastated by the virus. Nearly 175 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been culled in attempts to contain outbreaks since 2022 in the nation's worst animal-health emergency. Losses of egg-laying chickens drove egg prices to records this year,...

A Wisconsin dairy farmer alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that the Trump administration is illegally denying financial assistance to white farmers by continuing programs that favor minorities.The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in federal court in Wisconsin on behalf of a white dairy farmer, Adam Faust. *** The new lawsuit alleges the government has continued to implement diversity, equity and inclusion programs that were instituted under former President Joe Biden. *** . “After being ignored by a federal agency that’s meant to support agriculture, I hope my...

Perry Carbone, Attorney for the United States, Acting under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515; Charmeka Parker, the Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General (“USDA-OIG”); and Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation(“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging six individuals in connection with a sprawling fraud and bribery scheme that generated over $66 million in unauthorized transactions under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”)—colloquially known as food stamps. This is one of the largest food...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended the House GOP’s proposed changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Sunday, arguing that states will better administer food stamp benefits if they have to shoulder more of the costs. “The states are not properly administering this because they don’t have enough skin in the game,” Johnson told CBS’s Margaret Brennan in an interview on “Face the Nation.” The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the GOP-controlled House narrowly passed early Thursday morning after an overnight session, calls for the federal share of SNAP costs to drop from the current 100...

(College Station, T.X., April 29, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins today announced a second round of payments coming this week for specialty crop producers through the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) program, providing up to $1.3 billion in additional program assistance. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) already delivered just under $900 million in first round payments to eligible producers.

(Washington, D.C., April 24, 2025) – Today, at the direction of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services John Walk issued guidance to all State agencies directing them to enhance identity and immigration verification practices when determining eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This guidance is one of many steps toward fulfilling President Trump’s Executive Order 14218, which directs USDA and other federal agencies to “enhance eligibility verification systems, to the maximum extent possible, to ensure that taxpayer funded benefits exclude any ineligible alien.” “President Trump has made...

In a dramatic move to protect America’s cattle industry, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has warned Mexico that the U.S. will halt imports of live animals — including cattle and bison — if Mexico doesn’t step up efforts to combat a dangerous pest creeping northward. In a letter sent Saturday and obtained by Fox News, Secretary Rollins put the Mexican government on notice to act immediately to fight the spread of the New World screwworm or face serious economic consequences on the border. The USDA has set a firm deadline of April 30 for Mexico to address the growing crisis, or...

@RepThomasMassie People should not be allowed to use food stamps (EBT) to purchase sugary drinks like Coke and Pepsi. Libertarian arguments about choice do not apply here. The money being used for EBT was extracted from taxpayers who have no choice in whether to give up their money.

After Donald Trump won the presidency again, Rebecca Carlson was counting on this being the year things turned around for her 1,300-acre farm in northern Michigan. The farm has been in her family for generations but has struggled over the past several years amid the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer and other operating expenses. Then, last year, bad weather wiped out much of her crop. But the return of Trump, she thought, would help reverse things. Her farm had been awarded a grant worth $400,000 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help pay for the costs associated with hiring...

This page summarizes the February 2025 Food Price Outlook forecasts, which incorporate the January 2025 Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index numbers. See the Overview page for Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index datasets that include recent price changes and forecasts of price changes for all categories discussed in this summary. Consumer Price Index for Food (not seasonally adjusted) The all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of economy-wide inflation, increased 0.7 percent from December 2024 to January 2025 and was up 3.0 percent from January 2024. The CPI for all food increased 0.6 percent from December 2024...

Vegetable gardening has become an increasingly popular trend in recent years, with individuals and communities alike embracing the benefits of growing their own fresh produce. Recognizing the significance of this movement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now encouraging people to register their vegetable gardens. This new initiative aims to better understand and support the efforts of home gardeners, while also contributing to a more sustainable local food system. The decision by the USDA to ask people to register their vegetable gardens stems from a deep appreciation for the positive impact that these gardens can have on both individuals...

The American Heart Association is throwing its weight behind soda and junk food—literally. Instead of supporting legislation that would prevent food stamps from being used on sugary drinks and processed snacks, the AHA is fighting it. Why? Because it takes money from the very companies selling these products. Pepsi, Kellogg’s, and other big food corporations pump cash into the AHA, and in return, the organization defends policies that keep their products moving off the shelves, even at the expense of public health. The proposed legislation is simple. It aims to stop Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—taxpayer-funded assistance—from being used...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily halted spending to all of the programs it funds at University of Maine System schools, a system spokesperson announced Tuesday morning. The move temporarily pauses the system's agricultural research and programs weeks after President Donald Trump threatened to cut funding for Maine because it allows transgender athletes to compete in sports. The university system has $56.1 million in active USDA grants, most of which support the flagship campus in Orono and agriculture programs and research, according to spokesperson Samantha Warren.

NEW YORK (AP) — Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing. The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste. “I’ve been treated as a public enemy by the government and now it’s bleeding into my own family,” says...

$17M has been spent in the last 17 months for *2 consultants. No actual field research on eating habits was conducted. 👀

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins told Breitbart News exclusively on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration is exploring ways for the federal government to stop China from purchasing American farmland. Rollins, in her first non-trade publication exclusive print interview, said that “no doubt” people are concerned about this and rightly want American farmland to be owned by Americans, not foreigners, especially those loyal to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). […] Rollins told Breitbart News that through her organization — which she led until her nomination as USDA Secretary — America First Policy Institute, she has supported state-level...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins told Breitbart News late last week that President Donald Trump and his administration are keenly focused on lowering the price of eggs in the United States and prepared to take any and all actions needed to do so. Rollins, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture, spoke to Breitbart News on Friday afternoon on her first full day as Secretary. Rollins previously served in Trump’s White House in his first term, and then later launched the America First Policy Institute—an outside group advocating...

Back in November, I wrote a column for Kansas Reflector that discussed the likely adverse effects of President Trump’s proposed tariffs on U.S. farmers. The piece noted that 398 million acres of cropland has been added to the mix around the world since the start of this century, notably in tropical regions such as Brazil and India. There is increasing competition for U.S. farmers in export markets. The United States alone cannot absorb all that we produce here. Many farmers voted for Trump because he promised less regulation and greater prosperity for America’s farmers. The hard truth is that, like...

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the cuts on Friday, saying that the department has terminated 78 contracts totaling more than $132 million. Rollins said 1,000 contracts are also currently under review for potential termination. . . Among the $132 million in terminated contracts are: $2.77 million in media contracts, including Politico subscriptions $374,000 for a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Onboarding Specialist $229,000 for a Brazilian Forest and Gender Consultant $29,000 for a Central American Gender Assessment Consultant $121,000 for a Women and Forest Carbon Initiative Mentorship Program $254,000 for Diversity Dialogue Workshops $91,000 for “training, education, and access...

WASHINGTON — Americans on food stamps may be banned from using them to buy “sugary drinks” and other junk food, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday. The newly appointed cabinet official said she will work with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — to prioritize food-stamp benefits for healthy food items. “Will we ever take food out of a hungry child’s mouth? Of course not, this is the United States of America, Rollins told reporters on the White House driveway. “Truly, this program has grown so large, especially...