Latest U.S. Department of Agriculture News

What to know about Brooke Rollins, Trump's pick for agriculture secretary

Nov. 23, 2024 17:47 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has selected former White House aide Brooke Rollins to lead the Department of Agriculture in his second administration. Here are some things to know about Trump’s choice and the agency that Rollins would lead if she is confirmed by...

Trump taps Rollins as agriculture chief, completing proposed slate of Cabinet secretaries

Nov. 23, 2024 17:12 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary, the last of his picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies. ...

Food prices worried most voters, but Trump's plans likely won't lower their grocery bills

Nov. 14, 2024 10:26 AM EST

Americans are fed up with the price of food, and many are looking to President-elect Donald Trump to lower their grocery bills. Trump often railed on the campaign trail against hefty price increases for bacon, cereal, crackers and other items. “We’ll get them...

Food aid interventions can curb climate change-induced hardship. But should they do more?

Nov. 14, 2024 04:49 AM EST

CHIPINGE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Gertrude Siduna appears to have little appetite for corn farming season. Rather than prepare her land in Zimbabwe’s arid southeastern Chipinge district for the crop that has fed her family for generations, the 49-year-old — bitter at repeated droughts...

USDA bans school lunch fees for low-income families

Nov. 05, 2024 14:16 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that students eligible for free or reduced price school meals cannot be charged processing fees beginning in 2027. School districts currently work with processing companies to offer cashless payment systems for families....

Honolulu revives the idea of shipping trash off island

Oct. 22, 2024 13:22 PM EDT

Honolulu’s trash could be shipped off island for 10 years until a new landfill is opened, a potential interim solution to the challenge of what to do with the waste generated by almost 1 million residents and about half a million monthly visitors. The city has begun exploring the...

Midwest chicken farmers struggle to feed flocks after sudden closure of processor

Oct. 17, 2024 19:48 PM EDT

Dozens of farmers in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are scrambling to feed their flocks after a struggling organic broiler chicken producer abruptly closed a year after getting a $39 million federal loan. Pure Prairie Poultry shuttered its Charles City, Iowa, plant after filing for...

RFK Jr. suggests he'll have a significant role on agriculture and health policy if Trump is elected

Oct. 15, 2024 17:17 PM EDT

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suggesting he will have significant influence on American agriculture policy if Donald Trump is elected president, the latest in a series of roles he has envisioned for himself in a second Trump administration. Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist and...

USDA launches an internal investigation into the deadly Boar's Head outbreak

Oct. 15, 2024 11:21 AM EDT

U.S. Agriculture Department officials have launched an internal investigation into how the agency handled reports of serious problems at a Boar's Head deli meat plant tied to a deadly listeria outbreak, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that USDA Inspector...

Boar's Head faces legal scrutiny over deadly deli meat listeria outbreak, USDA says

Sep. 27, 2024 15:54 PM EDT

Boar's Head, the deli meat company at the center of a deadly listeria food poisoning outbreak, is being scrutinized by law enforcement officials, the U.S. Agriculture Department disclosed in response to government records requests. Officials with USDA's Food Safety and Inspection...