USDA

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture drought still covers 62 percent of the nation. Recent storms are taking the edge off, but there's still a ways to go to catch up on lost precipitation. In Washington, Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, announced recently several new actions to help producers effected by drought conditions...

Discussion on U.S. Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL, now focuses on how the U.S. should comply with the World Trade Organization dispute settlement. The U.S. has until late May to make the way it administers COOL W-T-O compliant. Chief Counsel, Tom Rief, for the U...

They called last winter, "the winter that wasn't". The question this year for meteorologists is, will it be similar this year. U.S. Agriculture Meteorologist, Brad Rippey, says last year the jet stream swept much of the cold air out to sea, but this year a high pressure system parked over the North Atlantic is holding the cooler air over the continent...

DENVER (AP) — Senators from Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota are encouraging federal officials to use the timber industry to help thin forests prone to wildfires, like ones that raged across their states this summer. In a letter Thursday to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the senators said overgrown forests, drought, vast stretches of trees killed by beetles, and more people living in fire zo

Cattle producers are caught in a squeeze right now with fewer calves that they have to pay more for, along with very high corn prices. USDA Livestock analyst, Shayle Shagham says many producers have gone through a series of losses, as have meat packers...

It seems that when fall came in the door the drought as a news story went out the window, but actually, "62.30 percent of the contiguous area of the United States remains in drought." U.S.Agriculture Department Meteorologist, Brad Rippey says that's down only about 3 percent from the peak number just a few weeks ago...

Agriculture officials at the USDA say there's been confirmation that the U.S. House won't take up the Farm Bill until at least after the election. The house speaker made that announcement Thursday. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, calls that, "unfortunate, because rural America needs passage of this Food, Farms, and Jobs Bill and it needs it quickly...

Mandated standards for healthier school lunches were introduced this fall featuring more vegetables of specific color, lower sodium and more whole grains. We've been working on this for a couple years. We're ahead of the curve on the whole grains...

Crops and pasture lands drying from prolonged drought conditions across much of the state are adding fuel load for a potential field fire, one that can be sparked inadvertently by farm and ranch machinery. Mark Hinze of University of Nebraska Extension says operators can prevent such an occurrence with routine equipment maintenance, including checking belts, lubrication, and looking for worn, fra

While analysts predict we'll feel the major effects of drought on food prices next year, they say there may be a surprise effect in 2012. U.S.D.A. Food Price Analyst, Ricky Volpe, says because pastures have been wiped out and feed prices are going up, cattle producers are sending cows to market early, which means, "we are revising our 2012 forecast for beef and veal downward...