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U.S. egg imports climbed even higher in March as Turkey and Mexico scaled up their exports and Brazil and Honduras sent the U.S. eggs for the first time this decade, according to Commerce Department data published Tuesday.

FDA is expanding the use of unannounced inspections at foreign facilities that produce foods and medicines, building on a pilot program already used in India and China.

The Meat Institute hired Jesse Fulton as director of animal health and welfare. Former National Pork Board CEO Bill Even will be the next commissioner of the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development. Kenneth Selzer was sworn in as associate administrator of the Risk Management Agency. 

USDA's Farm Production and Conservation mission area added new staff: Kaytlin Bemis is now a policy adviser, Matthew Wininger was hired as special assistant, Kelli Evans was named senior adviser and Kyle Allen is a special assistant. 

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday the department will unveil its reorganization plan next week and it won’t be as “drastic” as many have feared. Speaking to members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Rollins confirmed that about 15,000 USDA employees had taken buyouts. 

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted along party lines Monday evening to send two USDA nominations to the Senate floor: Stephen Vaden to be deputy ag secretary and Tyler Clarkson to be USDA’s general counsel.

More than 15,000 of approximately 100,000 employees at USDA are preparing to leave the agency after accepting buyout offers that will allow them to keep being paid through the end of September, according to numbers shared with Agri-Pulse by a Capitol Hill source.

Skyhigh U.S. tariffs are prompting importers to rethink orders. But fewer ships coming in means fewer ships going out, and the ag industry worries its exports are going to be squeezed in the oncoming global trade reshuffle.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins faces back-to-back hearings this week, while House Republican leaders continued to struggle to agree on tax policy and deep cuts to SNAP and Medicaid that could be key to their budget reconciliation efforts.

Maine has agreed to drop a lawsuit against the Agriculture Department that challenged USDA's withholding of federal nutrition funds over the state's treatment of transgender athletes.

President Donald Trump is proposing to slash non-defense spending by nearly 23% in a fiscal 2026 budget that contains $5 billion in cuts to USDA programs, including agricultural research, international food aid, conservation technical assistance to farmers, and rural development. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again initiative is a clear winner in the White House plan.