Agriculture Department

WASHINGTON — The Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service is developing new tests and tools to identify and track the coronavirus and its variants in wild and domestic animals. The initiative, part of a $300 million provision in the... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bicameral group of lawmakers led by Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, and Jared Huffman, D-Calif., in the House and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., are urging the U.S. Agriculture Department to provide emergency assistance to organic dairy and chicken... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The United States Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday it would begin issuing new grant program applications for agricultural stakeholders funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Small businesses in certain commodity areas will be able to... Read More

The Biden administration is expanding a program to feed as many as 34 million schoolchildren during the summer months, using funds from the coronavirus relief package approved in March. The Agriculture Department is announcing Monday that it will continue through... Read More

WASHINGTON — Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has emerged as a leading candidate for secretary of agriculture in the Biden administration, reprising a role he held under President Barack Obama, according to people familiar with the nomination process. The people said that while Vilsack... Read More

WASHINGTON - Thirty-four members of the U.S. Senate have signed a letter to Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting an extension of various waivers that allow low-income students access through the upcoming school year to school-provided meals. One-in-seven children... Read More