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Agriculture

USDA to conduct bee and honey production

HARRISBURG — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact beekeepers during the Bee and Honey Production, Disposition, and Income Inquiry to gather information on colony numbers, honey production, stocks, and sales. The information helps evaluate conditions from year to year and promote programs designed to ensure the viability of beekeepers and agricultural pollination services. This survey occurs in January and February of 2024, collecting data from more than 9,300 producers nationwide. “The survey results provide a ...

USDA to measure quarterly bee colony loss

HARRISBURG — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be collecting information about colony loss in the honey industry throughout the United States. The next Quarterly Colony Loss survey will be conducted during January of 2024. This survey collects information about colony inventory and loss from more than 400 producers with honeybee colonies in the Northeastern Region of the United States. “The information from these surveys directly impacts our region’s beekeepers and honey producers,” said Kevin Pautler, deputy director ...

USDA announces planned trade missions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced next steps in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s efforts to bolster U.S. agricultural trade, including the department’s planned trade missions for 2024 and the opening of a public comment period for the new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP). These efforts will help to support further growth in U.S. agricultural exports and introduce high-quality U.S. agricultural products to new markets. “Market diversification is an important tool for maximizing growth opportunities for U.S. agriculture, as well ...

USDA invests nearly $28M to train new farmers, ranchers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small has announced an investment of $27.9 million across 45 organizations that teach and train beginning farmers and ranchers, including programs for U.S. veterans who are entering into agricultural careers and starting new farming businesses. “The next generation of farmers and ranchers hold the promise for future American agriculture and rural prosperity,” said USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small. This investment is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) ...

USDA announces key staff appointments

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the names of individuals who will hold senior staff positions in Washington, D.C. Eric Womack has been named Deputy General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel. Most recently, Womack served on detail as an Associate Counsel for the Litigation Group in the White House Counsel’s Office. In this role, he provided legal advice on issues of critical importance to the administration, including the debt ceiling, artificial intelligence, and competition policy. Before his detail, Womack served as Assistant Director ...

FEELING THE PINCH

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Justin Ralph estimates he’s made about 200 trips delivering grain from the fields he farms with his brother and uncle this year. They’re accustomed to using their four semi-trucks to take the harvest from a total of about 800 acres each of corn, soybeans and wheat to market. What they’re not used to are the distances they’ve had to drive the past couple years, a consequence of bad weather that’s only expected to increase in their area as a result of climate change. They used to take advantage of a grain elevator in Mayfield, Kentucky — a massive ...