Articles by Steve Davies

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.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is rapidly staffing up to help farmers with their conservation challenges, and that brings with it the need to train the new employees. However, the agency is finding that many of these new conservationists didn’t grow up on a farm and need help understanding the different types of farming systems they will encounter.

A Wisconsin poultry grower who contracted with Pure Prairie Poultry tells Agri-Pulse to expect lawsuits to be filed today over the company’s closure. The shutdown has resulted in roughly 2 million chickens left without fed and growers without a processor able to take them.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is going after Donald Trump in a podcast aimed at rural residents, specifically pointing to Trump’s plan to impose across-the-board tariffs.

USDA is awarding $1.5 billion for 92 Regional Conservation Partnership Program projects across the country, including efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and improve water quality from agricultural operations.

Donald Trump sees tariffs as a way to force companies to keep manufacturing in the U.S. But as the presidential campaign nears its conclusion, some people are questioning his authority to impose widespread duties on imported goods.

In what appears to be a response to claims amplified by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the dangers of modern agriculture, nearly 270 farm groups from across the country are warning leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees about the importance of inputs such as pesticides.

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether challenges to EPA small refinery exemption decisions can be heard in federal appeals courts other than the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

USDA is relying heavily on outside groups and federal retirees to help farmers use the billions of dollars in new conservation funding for climate-smart practices. Based on data provided to Agri-Pulse under the Freedom of Information Act, the Natural Resources Conservation Service now employs about 5,000 people a year who work for partner organizations.