USDA Latest

WASHINGTON, August 4, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small today announced that the Department will begin accepting applications on September 6 for funding to expand access to high-speed internet for millions of people in rural America nationwide, part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to investing in rural infrastructure and affordable high-speed internet for all.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2022 – Today, at an event in Lowndes County, Alabama, where a significant number of residents lack access to wastewater infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative. The new initiative will be piloted in 11 communities across the country where residents lack basic wastewater management that is essential to protecting their […]

WASHINGTON, August 1, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing that it will be declaring Salmonella an adulterant in breaded and stuffed raw chicken products. “Food safety is at the heart of everything FSIS does,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “That mission will guide us as this important first step launches a broader initiative to reduce Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry […]

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2022 – "President Biden and Congress have taken an important, historic step towards easing the burden of inflation on the American public and meeting the moment on climate. If passed, the Inflation Reduction Act will have a meaningful impact on the rural and agriculture communities we serve at The Department of Agriculture.

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.