News and reports from the Department of Agriculture.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in birds in two states – a flock of commercial broiler chickens in Fulton County, Kentucky, and a backyard flock of mixed species birds in Fauquier County, Virginia.

News Release: WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, welcomed Secretary Vilsack's announcement on Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. This will expand markets by investing $1 billion in partnerships to support America’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners.

News Release: WASHINGTON - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack selected 12 members to serve on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) inaugural Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture to provide input on policy development and to help identify barriers to urban agriculture as USDA works to promote urban farming and the economic opportunities it provides in cities across the country.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced $7 million in competitive grant funding for the Acer Access and Development Program (Acer) and the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP).

USDA-AMS-TM-FSMIP-G-22-0004 grant opened on Feb. 16.

Between January 6 and February 1, 2022, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) expanded two areas under quarantine in Cameron County, removed the Bayview area quarantine in Cameron County, and added a new quarantine area in Palmview in Hidalgo County, Texas.

Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2022 crop year have until March 15, 2022, to sign a contract.

NIFA recently invested $7.8 million from FY21 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program (AFRI) funds for 17 Novel Foods and Innovative Manufacturing Technologies grants.

This Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program priority area, Rural and Economic Development, focuses mainly on entrepreneurs, small businesses, and other local level employers and services who are important sources of employment, and/or on other issues “beyond the farm gate.”

NIFA recently awarded nine Nanotechnology for Agriculture and Food Systems grants totaling $5.4 million to support nanotechnology-enabled solutions that improve agricultural and food production, food and nutrition security, sustainability, food safety, high value-added products, and agricultural water.

Today, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of the 2021 Hemp Acreage and Production Survey in its National Hemp Report.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) wants recipients of the National Agricultural Classification Survey (NACS) to know that there is still time to respond.

The U.S. dairy sector has undergone substantial structural change characterized by a shift to larger and fewer dairy operations, concentrated in relatively few States.

This report discusses the contribution of farm labor in U.S. agricultural growth and assesses the changing composition of the U.S. farm labor force with special attention to the changes in educational attainment among farm operators and other workers.

Sweet sorghum is best known for the amber-colored syrup that's made from its juices.