Farm Service Agency

Scott Halpin, state executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Illinois, announced that four additional counties are authorized for emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acres.

Scott Halpin, state executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Illinois, announced that 89 counties are authorized for emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acres for fiscal year 2023.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending the deadline for the new Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program to Aug. 11.

Adams, Hancock, Pike, Randolph and Schuyler counties have been authorized for emergency grazing use on all eligible Conservation Reserve Program acres during the primary nesting season due to extreme drought conditions.

Four separate disaster declarations were designated for the Illinois due to tornadoes and drought that occurred during the 2023 Illinois growing season.

Hail damage and wind damage are crop insurance claims that Eric Brammeier is used to seeing in his off-farm job as owner and agent of SC Crop Insurance.

So many things in this old world feel a bit off kilter these days. It reminds me of lyrics from an old Willie Nelson song, “At a time when the world seems to be spinnin’ hopelessly out of control…”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program general sign-up.

Midwest farmland values continued an upward trend, but slowed in the first quarter, according to a survey in the Seventh Federal Reserve District.

Classifying Holstein cows gives dairymen an unbiased evaluation of the phenotype of their cows. “That information is used in two ways,” said Maureen DeBruin, classifier for Holstein Association USA.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended the deadline for producers to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage and Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage for program year 2023 to Jan. 31.

Zach Ducheneaux is a child of farm financial crisis of the 1980s, when farmers were dealing with rising inflation, rising interest rates, uncertainty in the markets and weather events.

Six Illinois counties have been designated primary natural disaster areas, allowing for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency to extend emergency credit to local producers through emergency loans.

Producers can now take a nationwide survey to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture improve and increase access to its programs and services for America’s farmers, ranchers and forest managers. The survey includes new and existing customers.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans for additional emergency relief and pandemic assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA.