Radio Features

This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP – in Baku, Azerbaijan includes a day focused solely on agriculture as a key piece of the climate mitigation puzzle. Just fifteen years earlier, farms and forests as climate solutions were afterthoughts at COP. Rod Bain looks at the growing interest in ag’s multiple benefits in the climatic space in this edition of “Agriculture USA”.

PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bain. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Ernie Shea from Solutions from the Land.

A series of USDA grants were recently issued to projects under a set of local and regional food system development and promotion programs. Rod Bain reports.

PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bain and Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Moffitt

Our phones are one of the ways we interact with the rest of the world, but they can also be a doorway to trouble. Gary Crawford has more.


PARTICIPANTS: Gary Crawford. Kansas State University Extension educator, Barbara Stockebrand. Classic comedians, Jack Benny and Sheldon Leonard.

Here are some thawing tips that can save time and trouble when you are readying a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving. Gary Crawford has more.


PARTICIPANTS: Gary Crawford and Meredith Carothers with USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline.

****Broadcasters: The USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline number is 888-MPHOTLINE(888-674-6854) Listeners can also go online to Ask.usda.gov

Does holiday shopping dig you into a financial hole every year? Gary Crawford has an expert that can help us stay out of that hole.


PARTICIPANTS: Gary Crawford and Kansas State University Extension family finance expert, Elizabeth Kiss. Matt Shay, President of the National Retail Federation.

A familar voice to you celebrates a milestone in 2024 - fifty years providing Agriculture Department news and information in a style all his own. Rod Bain has the second of a two part series in this report.


PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bain. Gary Crawford. Jackson Weaver.

What were the major ag. trade trends during the 2024 fiscal year? Gary has the story.


PARTICIPANTS: Gary Crawford and USDA economist, Bart Kenner

A USDA pilot program focuses on incorporation non-traditional commodities into its McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. Rod Bain reports.

PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bain and Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor

It has taken well over a decade for agriculture to become a consideration, let alone a major component, of climate mitigation efforts in the context of the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. Rod Bain reports.

PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bain and Ernie Shea of Solutions from the Land

The Farm Service Agency recently adjusted reporting requirements for crop acreage to take vertical farming and other urban ag and innovative production practices into account. Rod Bain reports.

PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bain and Acting Deputy Administrator John Berge

Federal weather forecasters believe La Nina will be predominant this winter, but how might that affect agriculture across the country? Rod Bain reports.


PARTICIPANTS: Rod Bain and USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey