Author: staff

Lallemand Animal Nutrition has awarded $14,000 in scholarships to five students pursuing careers in animal science, nutrition and veterinary medicine, continuing its commitment to supporting the next generation of leaders in animal agriculture. Now in its 11th year, the Lallemand Animal Nutrition Scholarship Program recognizes students whose academic achievement and leadership demonstrate potential for long-term impact across the industry. Since launching the program, LAN has awarded more than $140,000 to students across the United States and Canada. “Each of these students represents the talent and commitment needed to move animal agriculture forward,” said Jeff Ast, commercial director for North and…

A New World screwworm case has been confirmed about 197 miles from the U.S.–Mexico border — the first reported detection in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The case was identified in a six-day-old calf, according to Mexico’s animal health agency SENASICA. While NWS has not been detected in the United States, the northward movement of the pest has U.S. and state officials emphasizing vigilance because the parasite can cause severe tissue damage and death in livestock if untreated. Earlier in December, NWS was detected approximately 120 miles south of the Texas border. In September, a case was detected less than…

Oregon’s agricultural education programs could face major disruptions if lawmakers approve proposed state budget cuts that would remove $1.1 million in state funding for Oregon FFA and key grants supporting agricultural educators. In an interview with RFD-TV, Oregon FFA CEO Kjer Kizer said the proposed reductions would affect more than 15,000 students and could roll back years of progress in expanding access to leadership development, career training, and statewide opportunities tied to agricultural education. “Oregon FFA has been supporting students since 1929,” Kizer said. “Modern FFA is an integral program with agricultural education … and as a direct result from…

Officials said that they hoped to release the rates for the $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance Program during the last week of December — and sure enough, squeaking in on the last day of the year, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins unveiled the eligible commodity per-acre payment rates. With farmers hamstrung during 2025 by a complex mix of low crop prices, high equipment and crop input costs, and the ripple of a prolonged trade war, the money geared largely toward row-crop producers is aimed to help close the gap in commodity losses. “America’s farmers have endured a year of…

With Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins wrapping up her first calendar year as head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she released a statement highlighting the research priorities and development activities that agency is going to pursue for 2026. She emphasized that her approach (a Secretary’s Memorandum) will intentionally distance the USDA from the initiatives of the Biden Administration, which she argues were built on “misguided policies focused on DEI and environmental justice in agricultural research, extension, and education programs.” She said these things “diverted resources away from solving actual challenges that American farmers and ranchers are facing.” Image by Heidi…

A century of shifting federal priorities transformed wolves from ‘public enemies’ into protected predators, and reshaped life on working lands. Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series exploring the impact that wolf reintroduction in the U.S. has had on livestock operations. Humans and animal interactions have long been complex, and as development and commercialization has minimized encounters in urban and suburban parts of the United States, rural ranchers are bearing the brunt of evolving ecological policy. And though this issue goes back more than half a century, the toll to modern ranchers is accelerating. In the 1960s,…

Mallory O’Steen is the Senior Southeast Program Manager for American Farmland Trust (AFT). Based in Athens, Georgia, her work focuses on securing a brighter future for farms and farmers in her home state and across the region. Lately, she has been directing more time and energy toward supporting aging farmers in the succession planning, or “farm transfer,” process. Such efforts are essential to the success of Georgia agriculture. Without help, many farm families risk losing their land and legacy. Below, Mallory is in conversation with Brooks Lamb, AFT’s Special Advisor for Strategic Communications. Together, they discuss the challenges of generational…

In a December column on AGDAILY, Perspective: USDA ‘regenerative’ program capitalizes on a buzzword, Amanda Zaluckyj voiced her frustration with the hollowness of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s use of “regenerative” in the agency’s new $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program. Ms. Zaluckyj has rightly asserted that “Regenerative has turned into more of a trendy buzzword than an actual, scientific approach to agriculture.” Instead of using buzzwords to deploy funding, what would truly benefit producers is if USDA actually helped them learn how to regenerate their soil. Since there is no mention of any means to facilitate farmer and rancher education…

U.S. farmers are facing one of the widest gaps in a decade between what they pay to produce food and what they earn from selling it. U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Dec. 15 show that by October 2025, the prices paid index had climbed to 154.6, while the prices received index had fallen to 120.5. The agency measures the indexes against 2011 levels, which are set to 100, making it easier to see how prices have changed over time. In practical terms, that means production costs were more than 50 percent higher than in 2011, while prices farmers…

The United States was hit with numerous multi-billion dollar extreme weather events in 2025, and many of them took harsh tolls on the agricultural sector. In its year-end recap, AccuWeather says seven of the worst disasters this year — most notably floods in the central U.S. and Texas Hill Country — resulted in $378 billion to $424 billion in total damage and economic. Graphic courtesy of AccuWeather One of the big ones that impacted farmers and ranchers was a historic winter storm blast through the Gulf Coast in January. It ushered in snow and ice to parts of the southern…