The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the appointment of 28 members and alternate members to serve on the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. Members and alternates will serve a three-year term ending Dec. 31, 2025.  Four of the appointments are the exporter members and alternates whose terms will expire Dec. 31, 2024, to remain in the council’s nomination rotation.

The newly appointed members are:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the appointment of 152 delegates, including 147 producers and five importers, to the 2023 National Pork Producers Delegate Body (Delegate Body).

Members appointed to serve one-year terms are:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for the Peanut Standards Board. The Secretary of Agriculture will appoint 18 members to the board. Nomination applications are due by April 30, 2023.

Docket Number: AMS-NOP-22-0071
Dates: An in-person meeting will be held April 25-27, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) each day and will include a virtual broadcast.

Summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced plans to purchase Fresh Table Grapes for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs. Purchases will be made under the authority of Section 5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is implementing a new Inspection Technology Evaluation (ITE) process to help the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) evaluate the instrument, equipment and methodology of new inspection technology for use in official grain inspection. The new process promotes competition and transparency.

The following acknowledgment of USDA funding must appear in all published materials or products, in any format (web sites, audiovisuals, etc.), that are substantially based upon or developed under an AMS award:

Funding for Project or Publication was made possible by a grant/cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA. 

AMS, along with the newly established USDA Cattle & Carcass Training Center (CCTC) located at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will host an educational in-person event at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources on June 15-16, 2023.  This event will showcase technology used in the meat and livestock industries to help producers and processors gain a competitive edge.  USDA, academia, and the CME Group will share their knowledge and offer information that covers a wide range of topics related to CME live cattle specifications and deliveries.

AMS, along with the USDA Cattle & Carcass Training Center (CCTC) located at West Texas A&M University, will host an educational in-person event at the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences on May 17-18, 2023.  This event will showcase experts from USDA, academia and CME Group who will share their knowledge and offer information that covers a wide range of topics related to CME live cattle specifications and deliveries.   Guest speakers include representatives from USDA, WT A&M, CME Group and Texas Cattle Feeders.

AMS, along with the USDA Cattle & Carcass Training Center (CCTC) located at Colorado State University, will host an educational in-person event at the  JBS Global Food Innovation Center on March 28-30, 2023.  This event will focus on animal handling and its effects on quality and yield factors, with several live cattle demonstrations. Guest speakers include representatives from USDA, CSU, CME Group, CattleFax, Cattlemen’s Beef Board and producers. Dr. Temple Grandin will provide keynote remarks.