News and reports from the Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services recently issued a call for nominations for the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

News Release: WASHINGTON, June 17, 2022 – Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proclamation in recognition and support of National Pollinator Week (June 20 – 26, 2022). Pollinator species, such as bees, other insects, birds, and bats play a critical role in producing more than 100 crops grown in the United States. Honey bee pollination alone adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually.

News Release: New Program Part of Broader Effort to Transform Food System, Create Jobs

News Release: HOLLIS, NEW HAMPSHIRE, JUNE 17, 2022- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to provide up to $200 million in assistance for specialty crop producers who incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses to obtain or renew a food safety certification...

Conservation Reserve Program Decision Support Tools grant opened on June 17.

There is one release scheduled to be published on June 21.

There was activity on two bills related to the Agriculture Committee on June 16.

News Release: NEW YORK, June 16, 2022 – Today during a meeting with U.N. ambassadors and officials at the U.S. Mission to the U.N., United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine are entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance coordination between the U.S. and Ukrainian agriculture and food sectors and build a strategic partnership to address food security.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) plans to revise the regulations governing domestic quarantines for plant pests by moving lists of quarantined areas and regulated articles to the APHIS website.

News Release: Washington - Agricultural producers who have not yet completed their crop acreage reports after planting should make an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) service center before the applicable deadline. July 15 is a major deadline for most crops, but acreage reporting deadlines vary by county and by crop. Producers should make an appointment as soon as possible to avoid missing earlier deadlines.

When enrolling moms into the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC, less than 30% of state agencies in Connecticut were asking for the fathers name.

News Release: Wednesday, June 22, 2022 - 10:00 AM ET.

House Agriculture Chairman David Scott delivered the following statement after today's hearing titled “A 2022 Review of the Farm Bill: Stakeholder Perspectives on Non-SNAP USDA Nutrition Programs.”

U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ranking Member, today announced the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Chavonda J. Jacobs-Young to serve as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics.

Release: Private exporters reported the following activity.