Category: Agriculture

The USDA announced a phased reopening of southern ports of entry to cattle trade starting Aug. 24, ending months of closure that had significant economic consequences for border-state ranchers and the broader cattle industry. The department made the announcement July 24. The reopening is contingent on Mexico’s continued compliance with a joint U.S.-Mexico action plan to contain the New World Screwworm threat. USDA said failure to comply could trigger renewed closures at any time. The port closures had disrupted billions of dollars in cross-border cattle trade. The United States imports approximately 1 million head of live cattle from Mexico annually,

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 11, establishing a whole-of-government framework to protect America’s food and agricultural supply from biological threats at the southern border. The agreement formalizes coordination between USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and DHS border operations, including Customs and Border Protection. Secretary Rollins signed the MOU at Moore Air Base in Texas, near the border region where the threats are most acute. The agreement elevates agricultural biosecurity to a formal national security concern alongside traditional border enforcement missions. USDA and DHS will share intelligence,

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert on Aug. 8 for various meat and poultry products containing jalapeño peppers linked to a Salmonella contamination event. The alert is connected to a separate FDA recall of Taylor Fresh Foods products. The alert covers meat and poultry products — categories under FSIS jurisdiction — that incorporated contaminated jalapeños from the implicated supply chain. Unlike a formal recall, a public health alert does not require product removal from shelves but carries serious consumer advisories. The dual-agency action means a single contaminated ingredient has crossed regulatory jurisdictional boundaries, requiring

City Foods Inc. of Chicago recalled 3,215 pounds of ready-to-eat pastrami and corned beef products on Aug. 8 due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced. FSIS classified the action as a Class I recall — the highest-risk category, indicating a reasonable probability that consuming the product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death. The products were distributed nationwide under multiple brand names, expanding the exposure footprint beyond any single retail chain. Consumers are urged to check product labels and lot numbers against the FSIS recall notice and not consume any recalled products.

The USDA Farm Service Agency designated 57 Kentucky counties and six Texas counties as natural disaster areas on Aug. 10, unlocking federal emergency loan programs for farmers who suffered weather-related losses. The Kentucky designations also make two Indiana counties eligible for emergency loan access as contiguous counties, while the Texas designations extend to contiguous counties in Oklahoma, the USDA said. The disaster designations activate FSA emergency loan programs that provide low-interest financing to producers who have no other source of operating capital following qualifying losses. Eligible farmers can apply for loans to cover operating expenses, replace damaged equipment, or make