U.S. Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved $1.2 billion in contracts for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, including $461 million for produce purchases.
A bill seeks to temporarily quadruple the fresh produce voucher benefit for participants in the Women, Infants and Children’s program.
With up to $2.1 billion for specialty crop producers at stake, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided the first details of the Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program direct payment plan.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning another round of contracts for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, according to an administrator of the program who touted its successes in a PMA Virtual Town Hall.
Liability protection for employers and business owners is being sought by Senate Republicans in the next coronavirus assistance bill.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has sanctioned four businesses for violating the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.
Has the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program made a difference in fresh produce market conditions?
April prices for food purchased at grocery stores were up 2.7% from March and 4.1% above year-ago levels, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.
With the Farmers to Families Food Box Program underway across the country, companies are busy packing and sending fresh produce to food banks.
The PMA and United Fresh Produce say they had a “candid dialogue” with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials about the Farmers to Families Food Box Program and expressed hope that improvements can be made.
Losses suffered by apple and potato growers have not been fairly considered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, according to groups that represent the growers.
The National Pecan Federation has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a research and promotion program to expand markets for pecans.
Specialty crop growers have only received a small portion of CFAP funds, and panelists on a United Fresh LIVE! session said the direct payment program for growers is targeted for changes by industry lobbyists.
Chinese customs officials are demanding U.S. ag exporters sign a form guaranteeing their exports are free from COVID-19, trade and government reports say.
With fall school schedules uncertain because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving school districts flexibilities in how they serve school meals.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is revising standards for grades of carrots to include more colors of carrots covered by the standards.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture had added an online portal for growers submitting applications for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has sanctioned Versa Marketing Inc. for not paying a Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act award of almost $800,000.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has removed a Mediterranean fruit fly quarantine in San Bernardino County, Calif.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has filed an administrative complaint alleging B & B Organics Inc. failed to pay for more than $1 million in produce.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has appointed 12 new members to the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has scheduled a web seminar to discuss the new commodities added and price adjustments made to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
As anticipated, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is releasing a third round of contracts for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, to spend the full $3 billion approved for the program.
The Packer’s Tom Karst visited in July with Tevis Foreman, executive director of Produce Perks Midwest, based in Cincinnati.
Taylor Farms Texas, Dallas, has recalled seven products and the USDA has issued a public health alert for six other items from the company because they all contain onions linked to a salmonella outbreak.
A proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture aims to bolster the National Organic Program’s oversight and enforcement of the production, handling and sale of organic products.
Three Texas companies have lost their Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act licenses.
(UPDATED, Aug. 26 )Predicting nearly the same apple production as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Apple Association estimates the 2020 crop at 253.31 million 42-pound cartons.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has decided whether three principals at two companies were “responsibly connected” at the firms when the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act was violated.
The Packer’s Tom Karst visited Sept. 11 with Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas.