U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that many Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices will reopen temporarily in the coming days to perform certain limited services for farmers and ranchers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recalled about 2,500 FSA employees to open offices on Thursday, January 17 and Friday, January 18, in addition to Tuesday, January 22, during normal business hours. The offices will be closed for the federal Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday, January 21.
In almost half of FSA locations, FSA staff will be available to assist agricultural producers with existing farm loans and to ensure the agency provides 1099 tax documents to borrowers by the Internal Revenue Service’s deadline.
Farmer delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 100th Annual Convention today adopted policies to guide the organization’s work during its centennial year on key topics such as farm bill implementation, cell-cultured food products, trade, rural broadband access and rural mental health programs.
American Farm Bureau Federation policy experts gave an overview of the issues expected to affect farmers and ranchers in 2019 in a workshop at the organization’s 100th Annual Convention.
In front of a celebratory gathering of approximately 7,000 farmers and ranchers from across the nation, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall opened AFBF’s 100th Annual Convention by outlining a few of the organization’s many historic accomplishments – from leading the way on the nation’s first farm bill in the 1930s to helping develop the Food for Peace Program in the 1950s. As AFBF heads toward a new century of service to America’s farm and ranch families, Duvall said the organization will continue to be guided by the honorable principle that “farmers want to feed people.”
The American Farm Bureau Federation presented awards to state Farm Bureaus at the organization’s 100th Annual Convention. The awards recognized excellence in implementation of outstanding member programs and membership achievement in 2018.
Virginia farmers will help mark a milestone this month when they attend the 100th 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced an extension to the original deadline for Market Facilitation Program applications. Agricultural producers who are seeking payments through the program, which is a part of the trade mitigation initiative, will now have more time to submit their applications.
In June 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a two-step process to review and revise the definition of “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act, proposing to first rescind the 2015 WOTUS rule while they worked to develop a new lawful and rational definition.
On December 10 – 12, 2018 the presidents of all fifty state Farm Bureaus traveled to our nation’s capital to participate in the annual American Farm Bureau resolutions meeting. This meeting presents an opportunity for the states to bring issues forward from their own resolutions committees to be debated and considered for inclusion in the AFBF Policy Book.
Plows and Politics 