USDA Latest

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending a key funding flexibility in the WIC program that has allowed state agencies and their infant formula manufacturers to work together to provide more options for WIC families in need of formula. Under this flexibility – which is now extended through the end of September – USDA is covering the added cost of non-contract formula to make it […]

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the Department is investing $401 million to provide access to high-speed internet (PDF, 187 KB) for 31,000 rural residents and businesses in 11 states, part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to investing in rural infrastructure and affordable high-speed internet for all.

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2022 — Today, during a visit to the Yolo County Food Bank in Woodland, Calif., Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has signed a cooperative agreement with California under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). The LFPA is a program authorized through the President’s American Rescue Plan, which invested $400 million to make food more […]

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho, July 26, 2022 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today launched a new $1 billion Community Wildfire Defense Grant program. This new, five-year, competitive program funded by President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is designed to assist at-risk communities, including Tribal communities, non-profit organizations, state forestry agencies and Alaska Native corporations with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks.

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2022 — Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a strategy for how the Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will address a reforestation backlog of four million acres on national forests and plant more than one billion trees over the next decade.

Washington, D.C., July 25, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it is awarding more than $10 million in Farm to School Grants to 123 projects across the country. Additionally, for the first time, the department is empowering states with $60 million in non-competitive grants to develop stronger and sustainable Farm to School programs over the next four years. Both actions will help more kids nationwide eat […]

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced an increase in funding to help schools continue to serve kids healthy meals this coming school year and provide financial relief for schools and child care providers. Effective July 1, 2022, the reimbursement schools receive for each meal served will increase by approximately $0.68 per free/reduced-price lunch and $0.32 per free/reduced price breakfast.

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2022 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is initiating emergency fuels reduction treatments to provide for the long term survival of giant sequoia groves against immediate wildfire threats. These actions make use of the agency’s existing authorities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to conduct emergency fuels treatments as expeditiously as possible.

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) encourages urban producers and others to attend the second public meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production on August 5. The Committee will discuss new urban conservation practices, focus areas and priorities for the Commission, and the new Farm Service Agency (FSA) urban county committees, among other topics.