USDA | IATP

Uprooted Episode 6: Ag Basics

This week's episode was going to be on meat, but schedules change and we adjust!

Trump’s USDA Does Bidding of Meatpackers, Turns Back on Farmers & Ranchers

Every day, independent livestock and poultry producers operate within a marketplace dominated by a handful of very large, mostly global meat companies. The overwhelming market power of companies like Smithfield, JBS and Tyson, to set prices and determine market rules, reduces competition and prevents independent producers from pursuing a fair return.

The USDA reorganizes for its “customers,” throws science under the bus

On September 7, in a message to U.S.

The biotech trade empire strikes back—at USDA!

The American Farm Bureau organized letter on proposed new rules regulating genetically engineered (GE) crops is short, just two pages, with three pages of agribusiness signatories, 103 organizations.

Comment on Importation, Interstate Movement, and Environmental Release of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms

U.S. Department of Agriculture  June 19, 2017 Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD APHIS Station 3A-03.8 4700 River Road, Unit 118 Riverdale, MN 20737-1238 Proposed Rule: Importation, Interstate Movement, and Environmental Release of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms (Docket No. APHIS–2015–0057)1 (“Proposed Rule”)

Corrupt meat: Brazil’s meat inspection system and ours

As you fire up the barbecue during the 4th of July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture helpfully offers tips on how to avoid food poisoning.

USDA begins rural reorganization before public comment closes

In May, new Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a reorganization of the USDA that would eliminate the Rural Development Mission Area, dealing a huge blow to rural communities across the country.

Comments on USDA’s Request for Information Regarding “Improving Customer Service

June 13, 2017   Donald Bice Office of Budget and Program Analysis U.S. Department of Agriculture Jamie L. Whitten Building, Room 101–A 1400 Independence Ave. SW. Washington, DC 20250  

Comments on Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) Interim Final Rule:

June 9, 2017 M. Irene Amade Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 2055-South Building Washington, D.C. 20250-3613

Trump’s agricultural trade policy with China: trade-offs or trade disputes?

With the U.S. confirmation of the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) having taken place little more than a month ago, it may seem premature to write about the Trump administration’s agricultural trade policy. However, it appears that at least parts of this trade policy are occurring in trade-offs with China, outside traditional USTR and USDA channels.