Rural

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Farm earnings are likely to fall sharply this year despite the $16 billion in COVID-19 assistance payments now being distributed, and farmers’ income is likely to drop again in 2021 without additional government aid, according to a widely followed forecast of the agricultural economy.

USDA’s Risk Management Agency will move premium dates and boost subsidies under the Livestock Risk Protection insurance program meant to protect producers against price declines.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign a bill giving farms and businesses more flexibility in how and when they can spend their Paycheck Protection Program loans and still get them forgiven.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the registrations of three dicamba herbicides — Bayer's Xtendimax, BASF's Engenia and Corteva's FeXapan — after finding that EPA substantially understated or failed to consider the social and economic costs.

A federal grand jury in Colorado has indicted four men for their role in a five-year conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chickens.

A turbulent couple of months for meatpackers and their employees has placed a fresh focus on the industry’s capacity to process the chicken, pork and beef on American dinner plates.

Countless deteriorating dams on rivers and old farm ponds out in the pastures are in escalating need of rebuilding before disaster strikes again. Some federal help is available for reservoir owners ready for the task.

Producer optimism increased in May, according to a survey conducted the same week USDA released details about the $16 billion in direct payments through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

The Senate returns to action this month under pressure to pass another major coronavirus relief package, but a more immediate priority for GOP leaders will be to agree on fixes to the Paycheck Protection Program, a lifeline to many small businesses and farms.