News and reports from the Department of Agriculture.

“CONFIRMATIONS“ was published in the Senate section on page S10105 on Dec. 22, 2022

News Release: Great Produce violated the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) by failing to pay a reparation award of $46,232 in favor of a Texas seller. As a result, USDA imposed sanctions on the business, including requiring that all principals may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without USDA approval.

Release: On January 5, 2023, Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is investing $9.6 million across the country and taking several other steps to help farmers, ranchers, processors, and rural businesses diversify the nations meat supply.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation have created a Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) grower toolkit and corresponding website to increase underserved farmers’ access to new and existing markets and USDA food safety certification programs. This initiative was created under an AMS cooperative agreement with the NASDA Foundation.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with New Hampshire for more than $500,000 to increase their purchase of nutritious, local foods for school meal programs.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with Maryland for more than $2.9 million to increase their purchase of nutritious, local foods for school meal programs.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with Massachusetts for more than $3.5 million to increase their purchase of nutritious, local foods for school meal programs.

News Release: Washington - In a complaint filed on Nov. 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that Hood River Juice Company Inc. (HOOD RIVER), Hood River, Ore., failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $3,607,420 to 12 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).

Release: Private exporters reported the following sales activity.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed an administrative complaint against Valvilla Produce LLC (Valvilla) for alleged violations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). The company, operating from Texas, allegedly failed to make payment promptly to three produce sellers in the amount of $1,493,960 from February 2020 through May 2020.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). Through LFPA, the commission and its four member tribes will seek to purchase and distribute locally grown, produced, and processed food from underserved producers.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entered into a stipulation agreement with Anderson County Livestock Exchange, LLC., (ACLE), Texas, on Dec. 19, 2022, for alleged violations of the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act. Under the terms of the stipulation, ACLE waived its rights to a hearing and paid a penalty of $4,000.

News Release: Washington - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today published the 2021 Pesticide Data Program (PDP) Annual Summary. The summary shows that more than 99 percent of the samples tested had pesticide residues below benchmark levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack praised the swearing-in of Alexis Taylor as under secretary of trade and foreign agricultural affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

News Release: WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2023 - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $9.6 million across the country and taking several other steps to help farmers, ranchers, processors and rural businesses diversify the nation’s meat supply.