Tag: USDA

In the heart of Ohio’s dairy country, farmers like Greg Steffen and Scott Stoller are moving beyond guesswork to discover how intensive cropping affects their land’s future. Through a $10 million USDA-funded project called "From the Ground Up," these producers are collaborating with Ohio State University researchers to design real-world trials on their own acreage. By prioritizing farmer-led questions over lab-controlled experiments, the initiative aims to find actionable ways to balance high-yield production with lasting soil health.

A USDA survey finds nearly 80% of rented farmland is owned by non-farming landlords, many over 65, raising questions about the future of U.S. farmland.

Despite strong election support, rural communities face deep cuts to SNAP, Medicaid and farm programs. Alan Guebert explores the real-world economic math of these losses.

Opinion columnist Alan Guebert dicusses how more than 20,000 USDA employees left in 2025, sparking fears of a "brain drain" as the agency manages a $234B budget and new relocation plans for 2026.

U.S. farmers are facing one of the widest gaps in a decade between what they pay to produce food and what they earn from selling it.

Explore the true cost of 2025’s ag policy, from record export deficits and tariffs to billions in hidden subsidies that challenge fiscal integrity.

Administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the new Regenerative Pilot Program will deliver a “streamlined, outcome-based conservation model." The funding comes only months after the Trump administration canceled the $3 billion Biden-era Climate-Smart Commodities program, which incentivized farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through conservation practices.

A fact check of White House claims on farm aid shows tariffs hurt U.S. agriculture, boosted bailouts and contradict rhetoric about a “war on farmers.”

The ongoing government shutdown is an inconvenience for farmers missing payments from the USDA. But if the impasse over federal spending drags on for weeks, it could grow much more dire for the nation’s agriculture community.

The government shutdown on Oct. 1 closed federal offices across the country, but it’s also impacted at least one county agency that works directly with farmers.