Top Agriculture News

The U.S. Agriculture Department will now consider updates to the Federal Milk Marketing Order. The deadline for modernization briefs was April 1st. Stephen Cain an economist with the National Milk Producers Federation says there is a huge list of requested changes and the post-hearing gave all interested parties a chance to speak. “To effectively summarize […]

Housing advocates fear rural low-income folks who live in aging USDA housing could be forced out; small towns are eligible for grants to enhance civic participation; and North Carolina’s small and Black-owned farms are helped by new wind and solar revenues.

The April World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report predicts lower corn and higher soybean ending stocks. The 2023-2024 U.S. corn outlook is for greater corn used for ethanol, feed, and residual use. With no supply changes and use rising, ending stocks dropped 50 million bushels to 2.1 million. The season-average farm price is lowered […]

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has been confirmed in a dairy herd in North Carolina. HPAI has previously been detected in dairy herds in six other states. State Veterinarian Dr. Mike Martin tells SFN cows from a herd in Texas that had not been showing signs of HPAI were shipped to Idaho, Michigan and Ohio and […]

Animal disease experts are collecting a massive amount of data on the outbreak of avian influenza in dairy herds. It started back in mid-March when dairy operators in Texas and Kansas began noticing signs of illness, which turned out to be avian influenza. On March 25, lab tests confirmed to the presence of highly pathogenic […]

RALEIGH – National Veterinary Services Laboratory has detected Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a dairy herd in North Carolina. HPAI has previously been detected in dairy herds in Texas, Kansas, Michigan, Idaho, New Mexico, and Ohio. Movement of cattle from affected herds in these states to North Carolina has been suspended. “This is an […]

Almost 100 pork producers took part in the annual D.C. Fly-In hosted by the National Pork Producers Council. NPPC President Lori Stevermer says they have many issues to talk about, with international trade near the top of the list. “International trade and exports are keys to our industry. We did just over $8 billion worth […]

As input prices go up and commodity prices go down, farmers rely on the reference prices in the farm safety net to help stay in business when margins get squeezed. Betty Resnick, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, explains the basics of reference prices. “Reference prices play an essential role in the ARC […]

It’s officially spring, and it sure feels like it, Commissioner!

North Carolina farmers have been able to supply over $3.6 million worth of food products to schools across the state, which is a new record for the N.C. Farm to School program. Schools have increased their purchases of North Carolina products thanks to USDA funding through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative.  In addition to […]