USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program needs to eventually give way to more established government nutrition practices, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue told a virtual gathering of the nation’s produce farmers Tuesday.

Democratic congressional leaders refused to allow replenishment of a key Agriculture Department account, charging that the White House is employing it as a “political slush fund.” Senate Republicans quickly criticized the measure.

Lawmakers look to move a compromise stopgap funding bill this week to keep the government operating until December, even as much of the nation's attention is focused on the Supreme Court opening created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The Agriculture Department is launching a new round of coronavirus relief payments worth up to $14 billion that will be spread over more commodities with new methods of calculating the assistance.

President Donald Trump used a campaign event in Wisconsin to announce the administration's plan to distribute about $13 billion in additional payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

The Western Fairs Association and California Fairs Alliance are pushing for emergency funding for fairgrounds in “any potential financial recovery or stimulus.”

The Trump administrations carries out a major piece of its regulatory reform agenda this week, while some lawmakers hold out hope for breaking an impasse over a coronavirus relief package.

California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed to fine two meat companies about $60,000 for failing to adequately protect workers from COVID-19.

Venture capitalists are still investing in a broad range of new and improving technology to help farmers produce their crops and consumers get the food they want and need.

Foster Farms has reopened a poultry processing plant in Livingston, Calif., after shutting it for a week to conduct thousands of COVID-19 tests on employees and conduct “deep cleaning” of the facilities.