Articles Tagged: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Farmers in northeast Iowa planted more corn and soybeans last week than in all of the three weeks prior, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As bird flu has spread across the U.S., bird disposal companies, environmental waste businesses and large poultry producers have received millions of federal dollars to kill flocks, compost their bodies and clean barns across the country. Investigate Midwest goes inside the business of killing in response to bird flu.

Heavy rain in April led to long planting delays, but conditions were ripe this week for significant progress. Farmers have less than two weeks to plant or face yield declines.

“Healthy Kids Iowa” -- a new program announced Wednesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds -- will provide qualifying families with $40 worth of food per child per month in June, July and August. It replaces a summer food program that Reynolds opted out of. It would have provided $29 million in federal food assistance funding for an estimated 240,000 children in the state.

The former U.S. ag secretary and Iowa governor spoke to farmers at an event hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party in Indianola.

Thousands of farmers and small rural businesses -- including many in Iowa -- remain in limbo as USDA demands grant rewrites favoring fossil fuels over renewables.

A misunderstanding purportedly led a farmland owner to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture to overturn protections for millions of acres of ag wetlands. A judge is considering requests to dismiss the case before it goes to trial.

A Central City orchard needs to find a new buyer for about 50,000 pounds of apples and other small and new Iowa farmers worry about their expansion plans amid uncertainty about federal ag policies.

A backyard flock in Dallas County was the first known infection in more than two weeks in Iowa poultry. March and April are busy months for migrating birds that might carry the virus.

More than a dozen recently fired USDA employees told Investigate Midwest the terminations have stalled irrigation projects, rural housing aid and efforts to combat invasive crop diseases. Remaining staff are overwhelmed, and farmers may not receive needed and timely help.

Produced in partnership with the Iowa Engineering Society, E-Week is an annual celebration of engineering and all that it, and engineers, contribute to our world. The Gazette's E-Week showcases a variety of engineering topics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture anticipates egg prices will increase an additional 20 percent this year.

During a four-hour hearing Thursday, Brooke Rollins -- President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of agriculture -- was asked about tariffs, bird flu, the effect of mass deportations on the ag workforce, and rural development efforts.

Government officials across the Midwest face pressure to address high levels of nitrate pollution in water. In Iowa, saturated buffers — installed with taxpayer money — are being promoted by the state. But research and records show the state’s saturated buffers aren’t as effective as promised.

An investigation by KFF Health News reveals key problems in the U.S. response to bird flu, including deference to the farm industry, eroded public health budgets, neglect for the safety of agriculture workers, and the sluggish pace of federal interventions.