USDA Press Releases

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2019 – U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Scott Hutchins announced today that the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has invested $11 million in research that will support specialty crop farmers. “This collaborative public-private research effort...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2019 — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the appointment of 20 members to serve on the Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers (ACBFR). The newly appointed members serve terms of up to two years through 2021. Newly appointed members are...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2019 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy today announced that USDA is investing $139 million in 56 projects (PDF, 189 KB) to improve community facilities and provide essential services for 3.3 million rural...

(Washington, D.C., September 25, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement regarding the signing of the new United States-Japan Trade Agreement: “This agreement between the United States and Japan is a better deal for the entire U.S. economy, but is a...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2019 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary of Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy today announced that USDA is investing $144 million to improve rural water infrastructure in 25 states (PDF, 163 KB). “Modern and reliable water and wastewater...

(Washington, D.C., September 20, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement highlighting actions announced by the Department of Labor (DOL) which will modernize the burdensome H2A visa process. First, DOL published a common-sense rule that eliminates the...

(Washington, D.C., September 19, 2019) – Today, all former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture since President Reagan’s Administration announced support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). In a letter to Congressional leaders, former Secretaries John Block (Reagan), Mike Espy (Clinton...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2019 – USDA Rural Housing Service Administrator Bruce W. Lammers today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing almost $12 million in 41 community facilities projects that will benefit 214,000 Americans (PDF, 134 KB) in rural communities in 17...

(Washington, D.C., September 17, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today administered the oath of office to swear in Donald “DJ” LaVoy to serve as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary. “DJ LaVoy brings decades of leadership in economic...

WASHINGTON, September 17, 2019 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced a final rule to modernize swine slaughter inspection and bring it into the 21 st century. For the first time in more than five decades, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is modernizing...