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Donald Trump is headed back to the White House and he could have a sizable Republican majority in the Senate to help him confirm nominees and move his legislative priorities, notably an extension of expiring tax cuts. Trump predicted Republicans would hold on to the House.

Animal veterinarians are pushing USDA to move quickly in testing milk nationwide to get a handle on where the H5N1 virus is located so it can be controlled.

Dry weather has helped speed Midwestern and Southern farmers through most of this fall’s corn and soybean harvest while also limiting the amount of grain they could send down the Mississippi River. As many park their combines for the year, they are hoping rain storms can replenish soils parched and waterways shrunk by months of drought.

Soil conservation has always been the foundation of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which for nearly 60 years was known as the Soil Conservation Service. But NRCS is having trouble finding candidates with the right set of qualifications to fill its ranks.

The fourth installment of a five-part series, “Getting Grounded,” that examines the nation's conservation delivery system and the challenges facing farmers in getting the advice they need to select, plan and implement new practices. University efforts to craft classes and degree programs that appeal to a wider range of students may be making it harder for USDA to hire the soil conservationists needed to help farmers.

USDA plans to sample milk in states where dairy herds have been infected with avian flu, in an effort to stamp out the virus, which was first confirmed in Texas in March before spreading to herds in 14 states.

The hog industry says the U.S. pork supply is safe following detection of H5N1 in a pig from a backyard farm in Oregon, but concerns remain about possible mutations in the virus.

Avian influenza has been detected in a pig for the first time in the United State, USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed.

Nine Republican lawmakers are seeking additional insight into the USDA’s $45.6 million investment in Pure Prairie Poultry, which closed early this month, and the steps the agency has taken to help growers. 

A Trump administration would fire all federal nutrition scientists as part of its effort to determine what is causing the nation’s chronic disease epidemic, Trump ally and possible future administration official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pledging as he campaigns relentlessly on his Make America Healthy Again platform.