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Feds pledge more than $1 billion to plant trees in cities
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced hundreds of grants that total about $1.13 billion to plant new trees and maintain them in cities across the country. Minnesota cities, including Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester, will receive more than $33 million. Tom Vilsack, the U.S. agriculture secretary and former governor of Iowa, traveled to Cedar […]
States rush to make rules governing CO2 pipelines planned for Midwest
Sprawling Midwestern pipelines that would carry captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants and other facilities would change little when they cross state lines. The proposals would be constructed the same way in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas — with carbon steel pipe ranging from 4 to 24 inches in diameter with operating pressures […]
Minnesota considers fund to help farmers when grain buyers, storage companies go bankrupt
Minnesota is currently contemplating the establishment of a fund to provide payments to farmers when the companies that buy or store their grain go bankrupt. Minnesota would seed the money — at least in part — with state money. The fund would operate between $9 million and $15 million and in later years would be […]
Part of a northwest Iowa river has been pumped dry
A significant stretch of a northwest Iowa river has run dry several times in the past seven years as a rural water utility has pumped more water from the ground — at least a quarter of which is sold out-of-state — with the approval of state regulators. A two-mile segment of the Ocheyedan River dried […]
Thanksgiving holiday renews focus on bird flu, rising costs
Fresh turkeys are more expensive and smaller than usual leading into the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s due, in part, to the deadly and highly transmissible avian influenza that has wracked turkey producers this year. The virus, which is transmitted by wild, migrating birds, has led to the deaths of […]
USDA announces another $759 million of grants and loans for rural internet
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is awarding grants and loans that total about $759 million to 49 high-speed internet projects in 24 states and in other territories, the department announced Thursday. The total includes more than $15 million for projects in Minnesota. The federal funding is part of the department’s ReConnect Program and is partially […]
USDA hopes to boost fertilizer production as soon as next year
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $500 million to increase domestic fertilizer production, doubling its previous commitment, the agency announced. The federal dollars would boost long-term projects and ready-to-go proposals that might have an effect as early as next year. Some of the first projects to get funding from the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program […]
USDA more than triples funding for ‘climate smart’ agriculture
The Biden administration plans to distribute more than $3 billion to fund projects that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in agriculture and forestry — a tripling of its initial commitment in February. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was set to publicly announce the expansion of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program […]
USDA plans ‘historic’ funding to help struggling farmers and develop new ag leaders
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will distribute up to $550 million to expand certain farmers’ access to land, money and markets and to create educational opportunities for the students of higher-education institutions that cater to racial and ethnic minorities. “The idea here obviously is to enlarge the number of people that are engaged in this […]
State attorneys general support new poultry rule but question oversight
The attorneys general of 10 states are backing a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is meant to get poultry growers fair agreements with meat processors, but they want stronger oversight. “One of the many reasons it’s tough for small poultry farmers — and small farmers of all kinds — to afford […]
Vilsack offers integrated plan for domestic food production
The Biden administration has set aside billions of dollars to help the nation’s food supply chain recover from the coronavirus pandemic — and, more recently, the looming global effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and on Wednesday, it announced new funding and a comprehensive overview of how those initiatives mesh. “A transformed food system […]
USDA relaxes conservation program rules to boost crop production
Agricultural landowners who are not renewing their agreements this year with the federal government to keep their land out of production have the ability to put that land back to work earlier, a potential boost to wheat and other crop production amid global shortages, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday. Those who have land […]