Federal

Once finalized, retailers and suppliers would be required to keep records and provide their customers with notification of the country of origin of muscle cuts and ground venison they sell. The Agricultural Act of 2014 (farm bill) directed AMS to add muscle cuts of venison and ground venison to the list of covered commodities subject to mandatory COOL requirements. Once finalized, retailers and suppliers would be required to keep records and provide their customers with notification of the country of origin of muscle cuts and ground venison they sell. [node:read-more:link]

Three days before Donald Trump is to be inaugurated as America’s new president, just one Cabinet agency lacks a nominee to lead it: the Department of Agriculture.

The pick has become mired in politics and drama, unsettling the agriculture industry and potentially imperiling Trump’s standing with some of his most ardent supporters—the residents of rural America. In the process, it has become a case study in the difficulty Trump will face as he begins to govern, as his sweeping promises and catchy slogans run up against competing interests. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. dairy groups are calling on Donald Trump to set his sights on Canada's "protectionist" dairy practices as he seeks to safeguard American jobs. The International Dairy Foods Association, National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council, along with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture say a planned national Canadian ingredients strategy will block U.S. exports in violation of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization. Ontario milk pricing policies adopted last April are hurting U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Britain will leave the single market and the customs union. She wants this all wrapped up within the two years permitted by Article 50, the exit process she will launch by the end of March; ideally with a “phased process of implementation” afterwards covering things like immigration controls and financial regulation. In other words there will be no formal transitional period. There will, in fact, be a cliff edge of sorts. [node:read-more:link]

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection service has issued a notice providing instructions to FSIS Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs), inspection program personnel (IPP) and District Veterinary Medical Specialists (DVMSs) about assessing and informing official livestock establishments whether their written systematic approach for humane handling and slaughter meets the criteria for being a robust plan or not. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced the availability of $27 million in grants to fund innovative projects designed to strengthen market opportunities for local and regional food producers and businesses.  “These grants will continue USDA’s support for the local food sector as an important strategy for keeping wealth in rural communities,” said AMS Administrator Elanor Starmer.  “Entrepreneurs around the country are creating jobs and new economic opportunities in response to growing consumer demand for local food.  [node:read-more:link]

One of the most comprehensive studies on how immigration policy impacts the food system was commissioned by the American Farm Bureau Federation in 2014. Their report examines several policy scenarios, including what the authors refer to as the “enforcement only” option, which they define as “strengthened border security and…more aggressive use of deportation”—essentially Trump’s plan to date. [node:read-more:link]

If there is one clear message to take from this election, it is that Americans are angry. They feel that politicians in Washington are out of touch with their lives and their communities. It is a problem that is felt even deeper in the farms that drive our economy and the lives of rural Americans. We don’t read about farming anymore. [node:read-more:link]

Though a future agriculture commodity market in Cuba holds promise, it will depend on whether the industry can convince the new administration and Congress about the benefits to U.S. farmers and ranchers of normalizing trade with the communist island.  There are a number of additional barriers that will need to be removed to open agricultural trade with Cuba. Three trade experts highlighted the issues for farmers and ranchers Monday at the American Farm Bureau Federation national convention in Phoenix. [node:read-more:link]

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has left the agriculture secretary as the last department head to be named to his Cabinet, while a meeting with the chief executives of two agribusiness giants gave a hint at a roster of farm issues the incoming president will face. [node:read-more:link]