As the Agriculture Department today a proposed some changes in chicken and turkey inspection, the chicken industry expressed enthusiasm for the plan while some consumer groups were critical of it. Read More...

As the Farm Service Agency released a schedule of dates for hearings on plans to close county offices around the country, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, sent Agriculture Secretary Vilsack a letter this week asking him to provide a rationale for the closure of offices in Ohio and an assurance that farmers would continue to get the same level of service. Read More...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA has approved a conditional commitment for a $25 million guaranteed loan to build a biorefinery plant in Blairstown, Iowa, with funding support from USDA's Biorefinery Assistance Program. Read More...

J. Dudley Butler, the controversial administrator of the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration, announced today that he would resign. Read More...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $308 million in disaster assistance to help farmers, landowners, communities and others recover and rebuild after flooding, drought, tornadoes and other natural disasters in 33 states and Puerto Rico. Read More...

In a series of events that could be considered related to President Barack Obama’s campaign for re-election, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Chicago on Monday to talk civil rights and promote biofuels, and continued on to St. Paul today to unveil a conservation program while the USDA released a report on rural development. Read More...

President Barack Obama’s proposal, announced today, to reorganize six agencies that promote business and trade would not have an immediate impact on agriculture, but it could have an impact down the line on trade agencies and on food safety inspections if Congress grants Obama “consolidation authority.” Read More...

HONOLULU — U.S. Navy boats taking tourists to visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor are powered by biodiesel, and if Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Navy officials are right, this is the beginning of the U.S. military’s shift from petroleum to biofuels. Read More...

HONOLULU — For Tom Vilsack, visiting Pearl Harbor was about more than fulfilling his duty as secretary of Agriculture. The biodiesel-powered boat on which Vilsack toured the Pearl Harbor memorial was named for his maternal great uncle, Cassin Young, who served with great distinction on Dec. 7, 1941, and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Read More...

HONOLULU — The Agriculture Department will close 259 offices, facilities and laboratories across the country, including 131 Farm Service Agency offices in 32 states, as well as seven foreign offices as part of a plan to streamline operations and cut costs, Agricutlure Secretary Tom Vilsack said here Monday in a speech to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Read More...