Department of Agriculture

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Government Agents Killed 200 Animals an Hour in 2021

Critic slams USDA's Wildlife Services as 'taxpayer-funded wildlife slaughter'

(Newser) - A government agency killed more than 1.75 million animals across the country in 2021, in what it claims were necessary actions. New data shows the Wildlife Services branch of the US Department of Agriculture, which acts to "resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist,"...

Feds: Trade Aid From Trump Overpaid Corn Farmers by $3B

Farmers in the South were paid more per acre than those in the West, Northeast

(Newser) - The Trump administration overpaid corn farmers by about $3 billion in federal aid in 2019 and farmers in the South were paid more for the same crops than those elsewhere in the country, a federal watchdog agency has found. The Government Accountability Office said in a report released Monday that...

Critics Rip USDA's 'Inhumane' Killing of Wolf Pups in Idaho

Students tracking the pups, conservation groups blast culling, while agency defends it

(Newser) - For students at Idaho's Timberline High School, a wolf pack roaming nearby in Boise National Forest offered the opportunity to study the animals, and so they've tracked the group since 2003. This spring, though, a shocking find was made: eight pups in the pack were killed by none...

Feds Are Changing 'Product of USA' Meat Rules

That 'product of USA' often isn't, it turns out

(Newser) - It's something White House press secretary Jen Psaki learned "that I found a little outrageous," she says: Most grass-feed beef bearing the label "product of USA" is no such thing. Rather, it's raised and slaughtered abroad and then brought to the US for processing, and...

A Former Ag Secretary Got Good at Ducking Food

Dan Glickman, who served under Clinton, lays claim to being 'most assaulted Cabinet member'

(Newser) - If you had to name the "most assaulted Cabinet member in history," the name Dan Glickman probably wouldn't be at the top of the list. But in an excerpt of his new memoir in Politico Magazine , Glickman lays claim to that unwanted title. He served as agriculture...

Senate Confirms 2 Biden Nominees
Senate Confirms
2 Biden Nominees
Feb 23, 2021 6:27 PM CST

Senate Confirms 2 Biden Nominees

Tom Vilsack is returning to Department of Agriculture

(Newser) - President Biden's Cabinet is starting to fill out, with nominees for agriculture secretary and United Nations ambassador gaining Senate approval Tuesday. The Senate voted 78-20 to approve career diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador, a Cabinet-level position. A 35-year foreign service veteran who resigned during the Trump administration, Thomas-Greenfield...

Recall Affects 750K Pounds of Hot Pockets

Certain batches could contain glass or hard plastic, Nestle says

(Newser) - More than 750,000 pounds of Hot Pockets are being recalled because of the possibility they contain "pieces of glass and hard plastic." The recall of the Nestle product was announced by the Department of Agriculture . The frozen food could "pose a choking or laceration risk and...

New Dietary Guidelines Skip 2 Controversial Suggestions
New Dietary
Guidelines Skip
2 Controversial
Suggestions
in case you missed
Jan 2, 2021 11:12 AM CST

New Dietary Guidelines Skip 2 Controversial Suggestions

USDA rejects idea to further cut alcohol and sugar intake, weighs in on breastfeeding

(Newser) - The official new dietary guidelines for Americans have been updated for the first time in five years, and they might be more notable for what they don't include. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the federal guidelines don't call for cuts in alcohol and sugar intake. Over the...

Destroyed Murder Hornet Nest Yield 2 Live Queens

Wash. officials unsure whether new captives are virgin queens or if one is the old one

(Newser) - Fresh off eradicating the nation's first known nest of murder hornets , scientists in Washington state cut down the tree that held the nest—only to discover two live queen hornets, reports CBS News . The next question is whether they're virgin queens or whether one is the old queen...

Many People Planted Those Mystery Seeds. Others Ate Them
Mystery Seeds a 'Much Larger'
Operation Than We Thought
in case you missed it
Sep 13, 2020 1:00 PM CDT

Mystery Seeds a 'Much Larger' Operation Than We Thought

Thousands of Americans may have planted them, while others admitted to eating them, per Vice

(Newser) - Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans planted the mystery seeds they received in the mail over the summer, against the advice of US authorities, while others decided to pop them in their mouths. That's according to Jason Koebler at Vice , who read through "thousands of internal emails" from state...

Current Owner of Tiger King Zoo Gets More Bad News

Jeff Lowe just saw his animal exhibitor license suspended by the USDA

(Newser) - In June, a judge gave control of the Oklahoma zoo once run by "Joe Exotic" of Tiger King fame (real name: Joseph Maldonado-Passage), and now owned by Jeff Lowe, to the two men's nemesis, Carole Baskin. Now, more bad news for Lowe: The Department of Agriculture this week...

First Male Murder Hornet Is Found in US, Signaling a Hive

7 hornets have now been located in Whatcom County, Wash.

(Newser) - Washington state is on the case of a suspected murder hornet nest following the capture of the first male murder hornet in the US. The Asian giant hornet was retrieved July 29 from a bottle trap near Custer, Wash., where a mated queen had been found dead, reports KOMO News...

US Officials Warn About 'Mystery Packets' From China

Is it a simple business scam, or something worse?

(Newser) - All 50 states are warning Americans about mysterious seed packages sent unsolicited to their doorsteps—mostly from China, USA Today reports. The US Dept. of Agriculture suspects a simple business scam, but some officials say it could be a poison pill to damage crops: "I've had people describe...

As Meat Plants Shut Down, an Ominous Warning

Food supply chain is 'breaking' amid pandemic, says John Tyson, chair for Tyson Foods

(Newser) - Smithfield Foods and JBS have closed meat-processing sites , while Tyson Foods shut down pork plants in Iowa and Indiana last week after they were found to be hot spots for coronavirus outbreaks. Now Tyson is issuing a dire warning on the state of the industry as a result of the...

Governors Plead for Urgent Changes to Food Aid

For example, only 6 states allow people in program to order groceries online

(Newser) - Going out to buy food terrifies Yvonne Knight, a 38-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, but she is one of millions of people who receive food aid through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that can't be used in flexible ways. "Every time I go out, I put myself...

USDA: School Lunch Proposal Is Efficient. Critics: 'Unconscionable'

Department wants schools to be able to cut mandates on fruits and veggies, offer more pizza

(Newser) - Michelle Obama turned 56 Friday, but one unwelcome gift came in the form of a new Trump proposal that would strike further at one of her most well-known initiatives as first lady: healthier school lunches. Per the Washington Post , the Department of Agriculture on Friday released proposed mandates on "...

Food Experts Warn: Don't Rinse That Turkey

And don't leave it to thaw at room temperature, either

(Newser) - Go ahead and rinse your cranberries, potatoes, and green beans. But food experts say don't—repeat don't—wash the turkey before popping it in the oven on Thanksgiving Day. Experts at the US Department of Agriculture say that could spread the germs lurking on your turkey—to be...

Feds Pull Crop Tour Staff After Threat From Farmer

'The safety of our employees is our top priority'

(Newser) - Trouble in the heartland for the Trump administration? The Department of Agriculture says it pulled all of its staff from a tour of corn and soybean fields in the Midwest after a credible threat was made against an employee. Sources tell Reuters that the threat was made in a phone...

USDA Chief: We're Nixing 'Loopholes' for Food Stamps

New proposal from Trump administration could kick 3.1M people out of SNAP program

(Newser) - A new proposal from the Trump administration Tuesday could cut more than 3 million people from the food stamps program. Per Reuters , the Department of Agriculture says a tightening of who qualifies for SNAP, aka the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, would save the federal government about $2.5 billion annually;...

Watchdog: USDA Carried Out 'Cannibal Cat' Experiments

Lawmakers want experiments—including dog remains being fed to cats—to end

(Newser) - Government scientists have fed dog remains to cats, injected cat remains into mice, and conducted other experiments on animals that one member of Congress says "need to end now." The White Coat Waste Project, a nonprofit watchdog, drew the information from USDA publications for a report it plans...

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