Latest News From John Herath

A second bill to change the H-2A guest worker program has been introduced in the House. This version would move oversight from the Department of Labor to USDA.

As USDA Vilsack prepares to testify before the House Ag Committee Thursday on the state of black farmers in the U.S., he is highlighting disparities in coronavirus aid payments to minority and disadvantaged farmers.

USDA will move forward with $20 per acre payments for price-trigger crops outlined in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) round three with checks going out starting in April.

75% of Pulse respondents say they strongly disapprove of the job done by President Joe Biden so far.

Senate Agriculture Committee advances the nomination of Tom Vilsack as USDA Secretary to the full Senate.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) says she supports the Biden Administration’s move to freeze payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).

USDA late Wednesday posted notice that $2.3 billion in supplemental Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments will be temporarily frozen.

Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday thought she was talking to Smithfield CEO Dennis Organ, while in reality she was being punked by animal activist Matt Johnson of Direct Action Everywhere.

The coronavirus aid package approved by Congress overnight Monday provides $13 billion in ag funding, much of it destined for sectors left out of previous aid packages.

USDA Chief Economist Dr. Robert Johansson will retire at the end of January and will be replaced by Dr. Seth Meyer.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson lost his bid to retain the seventh district House seat in Minnesota, losing to the state’s former lieutenant governor, republican Michelle Fischbach.

NASA wants help from farmers to fine-tune satellite data from the Aug. 10 derecho that flattened crops across Iowa and Illinois.

President Donald Trump and USDA released the long-awaited rules for direct payments under the Coronavirus Food Aid Program (CFAP) at the White House Tuesday.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) exclusively for agricultural businesses on Monday.  

Senator Jerry Moran and the Farm Journal Livestock team react to President Donald Trump's order to keep packing plants open.

In an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus in meat packing plants, Kansas authorities are considering making housing at junior colleges and other facilities available to packing plant employees.

Farm Journal Economist Chip Flory and John Nalivka of Sterling Marketing looked at how producers are managing throughput throughout the chain on Wednesday’s Farm Journal Live newscast.

All sectors of agriculture, including produce, specialty crops and horticulture, will be included in a $16 billion direct payment plan to be submitted to the White House this week by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue.

A phase one trade deal with China is official, clearing the way for America’s chief trade competitor to purchase $80 billion worth of U.S. agricultural goods over the next two years.

President Donald Trump will address farmers regarding his 2019 tariff aid plan.

USDA announced a new tariff aid plan that offers a single payment rate for all commodities.

President Donald Trump plans to to implement the previously delayed tariff increases on Chinese goods on Friday, raising tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of goods.

Now that the Mueller report is in the rear view mirror, an emboldened President Donald Trump may take a more aggressive stance on China, lengthening the trade talks, according to Pro Farmer policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer.

All USDA county Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices reopened today amid the partial government shutdown now in its fifth week.

Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices will reopen amid the partial government shutdown to provide loan and payment assistance for farmers and ranchers according to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue.

President Donald Trump will address the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention for the second straight year. Watch live.

"Ditch the rule" is being replaced by "clean water, clear rules."

USDA has extended the deadline for MFP applications.

President Donald Trump signed H.R. 2, the Agriculture Improvement Act, better known as the 2018 Farm Bill, in a ceremony at USDA Thursday afternoon.

While general polls peg President Donald Trump’s approval rating in the low forties, the latest Farm Journal Pulse on the president’s approval shows solid support among those in agriculture.

Tariff aid payments under the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) could face another delay as the federal government inches ever closer to a partial shutdown.

The most significant policy issue of 2018 looms large over the outlook for the new year. Ag leaders of both parties say actions on trade in the first half of 2019 will decide agriculture’s fate for years to come.

The 2018 Farm Bill quickly and easily crossed its first hurdle today as the Senate approved the measure on a 87 to 13 vote a day after the final conference report was made public.

EPA on Tuesday unveiled a new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) definition under the Clean Water Act designed to provide a clearer picture of what waters are and are not regulated by the federal government.

House and Senate negotiators Monday evening released the text of a farm bill that mostly makes tweaks to the provisions of the 2014 bill it replaces.

The farm bill deal includes some key changes to the Commodity Title of the bill, including adjustments sought by farm groups.

House and Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a 2018 farm bill. That agreement now awaits scoring from the Congressional Budget Office to make sure it meets fiscal constraints for farm bill funding.

In this week’s edition of Boots In The Field, Ken Ferrie provides an overview of how harvest is going across Illinois, Iowa and Ohio.

Sometimes Mother Nature deals you a bad hand, and crop yields don’t turn out like you had planned for or hoped.

A young Kentucky farm family faces the same cancer that took the life of Senator John McCain.

Live from the Farm Progress Show, Chip Flory talks with Tim Homan of Rabo AgriFinance about how to have those difficult conversations with your banker.

Iowa and Minnnesota were full of surprises as the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour wrapped up in Rochester, Minnesota.  Listen to the podcast to get all of the final tour results.

“There’s a lot of good-looking corn in northwest Ohio that’s just finishing up pollination,” notes Farm Journal Agronomist Ken Ferrie in this week’s edition of Boots In The Field.

Ken Ferrie of Crop-Tech Consulting details what he has been seeing on farm visits. He covers how the dry area is getting bigger, what a tip down in ears can mean, and the increase of SDS in April planted untreated beans.

In this week’s Boots In The Field Report, Ken Ferrie shares that he has spotted: sudden death, pompous root rot, Stewart’s wilt, aphid colonies in the corn, and gray leaf spot.

Chip Flory joins the DC Signal to Noise podcast to talk about the political message being sent with this week's WASDE report. Is the export picture really as glum as the World Board makes it out to be?

The trade war is on. Pro Farmer Washington Analyst Jim Wiesemeyer looks at what it will take to declare truce in the trade battle.

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue set out to calm frayed farmer nerves in a USA Today op-ed on the escalating trade war with China.

BREAKING NEWS: The House passed the farm bill Thursday after taking a second vote on the measure. It passed on a 213-211 party-line vote

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) is still counting votes, hours before the House is set to reconsider the farm bill.