Op-ed: USDA Canceled $300 Million in Contracts for First-Generation Farmers. What a Waste. The USDA has canceled $300 Million in contracts to support first-generation farmers, abandoning farmers like me.

Op-ed: USDA Canceled $300 Million in Contracts for First-Generation Farmers. What a Waste.

Will AI Be a Net Positive For Aquaculture? The US and Norway lead the world in developing AI tools for the farmed fish industry. Some of these are beginning to gain traction.

Finfish aquaculture, particularly in the oceans, faces a slew of challenges, including disease outbreaks, high mortality rates, and feed problems. AI systems are being introduced to tackle these issues, particularly in the U.S., but the solutions are newly emerging and not yet widely adopted.

A Mobile Clinic Delivers Critical Care for Texas Shrimpers The Docside Clinic provides services for fishermen, many of them Vietnamese immigrants, in a dangerous part of the seafood industry.

The Docside Clinic in Galveston, Texas, provides much-needed services for fishermen in an especially dangerous part of the seafood industry.

Food Companies Backslide on Promises to Reduce Pesticides As evidence of pesticide risks increases, a new report finds that the food industry is 'actively reversing progress.'

The annual report ranks the country’s biggest food companies on their commitments to disclosing pesticide use and reducing it in their supply chains. This year, report authors awarded lower scores to 10 out of 17 companies.

USDA Finalizes Rollback of Environmental Permitting Regulations Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says the changes will mean faster permitting, but critics warn it will lead to ‘rubber stamping’ projects that fall under NEPA review.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says the changes will mean faster permitting, but critics warn it will lead to "rubber stamping" projects that fall under NEPA review.

Op-ed: USDA Canceled $300 Million in Contracts for First-Generation Farmers. What a Waste. The USDA has canceled $300 Million in contracts to support first-generation farmers, abandoning farmers like me.

"Despite all of the advantages I have, I don’t have the capital to purchase farmland. . . . That barrier is nearly insurmountable without help. And I am far from alone."

Read the op-ed by Amanda Koehler, a farmer and the manager of the Land, Capital, and Market Access Network. ⬇️

Food Companies Backslide on Promises to Reduce Pesticides

As evidence of pesticide risks increases, a new report finds that the food industry is "actively reversing progress" on lowering their use in supply chains. ➡️ buff.ly/LYRlyU0

USDA Finalizes Rollback of Environmental Permitting Regulations Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins says the changes will mean faster permitting, but critics warn it will lead to ‘rubber stamping’ projects that fall under NEPA review.

The new rule will significantly pare back environmental impact requirements, eliminate opportunities for public comment, and remove climate change and environmental justice considerations.

Will AI Be a Net Positive For Aquaculture? The US and Norway lead the world in developing AI tools for the farmed fish industry. Some of these are beginning to gain traction.

Will AI Be a Net Positive For Aquaculture?

Food Companies Backslide on Promises to Reduce Pesticides As evidence of pesticide risks increases, a new report finds that the food industry is 'actively reversing progress.'

Companies are making little progress in reducing the volume of pesticides used in the U.S. food system, despite the increase in public awareness, according to a new report.

“The food industry is not stagnating on pesticide risk—it is actively reversing progress it had already made.”

Op-ed: USDA Canceled $300 Million in Contracts for First-Generation Farmers. What a Waste. The USDA has canceled $300 Million in contracts to support first-generation farmers, abandoning farmers like me.

Op-ed: The government has abandoned the next generation of food producers—and the future of farming.

Food Companies Backslide on Promises to Reduce Pesticides As evidence of pesticide risks increases, a new report finds that the food industry is 'actively reversing progress.'

As evidence of pesticide risks increases, a new report finds that the food industry is "actively reversing progress" on lowering their use in supply chains.

@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

Op-ed: USDA Canceled $300 Million in Contracts for First-Generation Farmers. What a Waste. The USDA has canceled $300 Million in contracts to support first-generation farmers, abandoning farmers like me.

"The terminations don’t just cut off individual grants, they sever relationships built over years between farmers, landowners, lenders, and the community organizations that made those connections possible,” writes Amanda Koehler, manager of the Land, Capital, and Market Access Network, in an op-ed.

Will AI Be a Net Positive For Aquaculture? The US and Norway lead the world in developing AI tools for the farmed fish industry. Some of these are beginning to gain traction.

The jury is still out on whether AI applications can help the aquaculture industry address its most pressing problems. And there are concerns about data quality and privacy, high costs, and the impacts on labor.

Op-ed: USDA Canceled $300 Million in Contracts to Support First-Generation Farmers. What a Waste. The USDA has canceled $300 Million in contracts to support first-generation farmers, abandoning farmers like me.

"Cancelling mid-project doesn’t save money, it wastes everything that came before and puts our entire future in jeopardy,” writes Amanda Koehler, farmer and manager of the Land, Capital, and Market Access Network, in an op-ed.

Will AI Be a Net Positive For Aquaculture? The US and Norway lead the world in developing AI tools for the farmed fish industry. Some of these are beginning to gain traction.

The US and Norway lead the world in developing AI tools for the farmed fish industry. Some of these are beginning to gain traction.

In an Ohio Apple Grove, Researchers Race to Save Rare Varieties These Central Asian trees could help shape the future of apples in the United States. They will soon be uprooted.

These Central Asian trees could help shape the future of US apples. But the arboretum they reside in directed the grove to be uprooted. Now, researchers are doing everything they can to save the work they’ve done to breed the trees for biodiversity.

Will AI Be a Net Positive For Aquaculture? The US and Norway lead the world in developing AI tools for the farmed fish industry. Some of these are beginning to gain traction.

Finfish aquaculture faces a slew of challenges, including disease outbreaks, high mortality rates, and water pollution. AI systems are being introduced to tackle these issues, particularly in the U.S., but the solutions are newly emerging and not yet widely adopted.

@megwilcox.bsky.social reports ⬇️

A Mobile Clinic Delivers Critical Care for Texas Shrimpers The Docside Clinic provides services for fishermen, many of them Vietnamese immigrants, in a dangerous part of the seafood industry.

In Texas, at pop-up dockside clinics from the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, local commercial shrimp fishermen—many of them Vietnamese immigrants—can get primary medical care, food, clothing, and social and legal services at no charge.

In Southeast San Diego, a Model for Creating Community Wealth Through Food Project New Village uses equitable food-oriented development to reduce food insecurity and build longterm resilience.

Project New Village, a multifaceted nonprofit, uses a strategy called equitable food-oriented development to reduce food insecurity and build longterm resilience in Southeast San Diego.

Trump Budget Request Cuts Nearly $5 Billion From USDA

The White House has proposed a 19% cut in the U.S. Department of Agriculture budget for the upcoming fiscal year, with an increase in spending for the agency’s reorganization efforts. ➡️ buff.ly/EmxXJtw

How a Tiny Farm County Fought a Data Center Complex and Won Talen Energy wanted 800 acres of Pennsylvania farmland rezoned to develop the center with Amazon. The community fought it.

Talen Energy tried to get 800 acres of Pennsylvania farmland rezoned so it could develop the center with Amazon. A grassroots effort defeated the plan.

“Public participation matters, and it has mattered here.”

Trump Budget Request Cuts Nearly $5 Billion From USDA The White House suggests cuts to agricultural marketing and focusing spending on the agency’s reorganization plan, as well as food-specific cuts to numerous other agencies.

The White House proposes a 19% cut to the USDA budget for the upcoming fiscal year, with increased spending for the agency’s reorganization efforts.

EPA and HHS Announce New Efforts to Target Microplastics The contaminants, linked to health issues, are widespread on food and farms; the food system is also a leading contributor to microplastic pollution.

The EPA and HHS announce two actions they say are aimed at protecting Americans from the potential dangers of microplastics.

Farmers Discuss the Loss of USDA Conservation Staff YouTube video by Civil Eats

According to a new analysis, 144 USDA county offices lost all of their conservation staff in 2025.

We talked to farmers about how the loss of federal support at the county level has been affecting their work.

Read more ➡️ buff.ly/bncRHRW

🎙️: @lisaelaineh.bsky.social
🎥: Vanessa Johnston

USDA Pauses Rural Energy Grants Amid Anti-Renewables Push The agency will not process existing or future REAP grants until it rewrites regulations to align with an executive order against clean energy subsidies.

The USDA has paused processing applications for a popular rural energy program, further delaying funds to farmers as high energy costs vex rural communities.

A Mobile Clinic Delivers Critical Care for Texas Shrimpers The Docside Clinic provides services for fishermen, many of them Vietnamese immigrants, in a dangerous part of the seafood industry.

The Docside Clinic, which started in 2021, provides primary medical care, food, clothing, and social and legal services for fishermen, many of them Vietnamese immigrants, at no charge. Now, clinic practitioners are planning to expand to other locations in Texas, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico.

USDA Payments for Organic Farmers Delayed Federal applications for the organic cost-share program typically open in the summer, but the agency has yet to distribute 2025 funding.

The USDA has yet to initiate the 2025 application and payment process for funds authorized by Congress to help farmers afford organic certification.

A Mobile Clinic Delivers Critical Care for Texas Shrimpers The Docside Clinic in Galveston provides much-needed services for fishermen in an especially dangerous part of the seafood industry.

The Docside Clinic in Galveston provides much-needed services for fishermen, many of them Vietnamese immigrants, in an especially dangerous part of the seafood industry.

“We’re trying to meet people where they are.”

USDA Payments for Organic Farmers Delayed Federal applications for the organic cost-share program typically open in the summer, but the agency has yet to distribute 2025 funding.

Federal applications for the organic cost-share program typically open in the summer, but the USDA has yet to distribute 2025 funding.