Latest News From John Herath

Former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson is headed to consulting firm Combest, Sell & Associates.

In his opening days of his second stint as head of USDA, Tom Vilsack is focused on farmer profitability and opening markets to build that profitability.

USDA is still reviewing how it will disburse $15 billion in coronavirus aid.

House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Glenn Thompson joins DC Signal to Noise to talk about a partisan opening to the 117th Congress for the Ag Committee.

75% of Pulse respondents say they strongly disapprove of the job done by President Joe Biden so far.

USDA's Chief Economist says the battle for 2021 acreage is on, and it may even bid into specialty crop acres amid strong signals that China plans to continue buying corn and soybeans.

Ag groups are gearing up for a new fight over the so-called 'Death Tax."

“The trade really wanted to see USDA get more aggressive on increasing corn export demand, especially after all the sales we had seen to China about two weeks ago,”

WASDE for February raised exports and lowered ending stocks for both corn and soybeans.

An exclusive interview with the NASS Chief of Crops about Farm Bureau's recommendations to improve transparency and accuracy of NASS reporting.

Senate Agriculture Committee advances the nomination of Tom Vilsack as USDA Secretary to the full Senate.

“I think agriculture is probably the first and best way to begin getting some wins in this climate area,” Vilsack says.

Farm workers from South Africa will be allowed to travel to the United States under an exemption to the Jan. 25 travel ban imposed to control the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) says she supports the Biden Administration’s move to freeze payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).

USDA late Wednesday posted notice that $2.3 billion in supplemental Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments will be temporarily frozen.

The Trump and Obama administrations had very different relationships with agriculture and rural America. Will the Biden Administration learn any lessons from those two predecessors?

AFBF wants USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to improve transparency and better embrace emerging technology in making crop estimates, determining ag census numbers and other ag reporting.

In the Trump Administration’s final hours, the EPA granted two small refinery exemptions to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and appears to have reversed a previous denial.

January's Crop Production and Stocks reports from USDA raised a number of questions about big shifts in production projections. NASS Crops Chief Lance Honig addressed those questions on AgriTalk.

USDA announced the release of $2.3 billion in leftover funds from the first and second rounds of the Coronavirus Food Aid Program (CFAP) on Friday, most of it to benefit contract hog and poultry producers.

USDA dramatically cut its 2020 average corn yield projection Tuesday, sending futures prices limit up. The 3.8 bu. per acre drop in the national projected yield is the largest in more than a quarter century.

The coronavirus aid package approved by Congress overnight Monday provides $13 billion in ag funding, much of it destined for sectors left out of previous aid packages.

On the eve of his nomination as EPA Administrator, Michael Regan placed an unscheduled call to the CEO of the National Corn Growers Association.

University of Florida researchers have developed corn that can thrive in nighttime heat.

USDA Chief Economist Dr. Robert Johansson will retire at the end of January and will be replaced by Dr. Seth Meyer.

The landscape has changed from what was expected for ag issues.

A new tool seeks to use tweets as an early warning system for drought.

Will a lame duck Congress approve a COVID-19 aid package? Pro Farmer's Jim Wiesemeyer thinks so and lays out the reasons why in this week's DC Signal to Noise Podcast.

Traders were expecting bullish numbers from Tuesday’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), but the projections were even friendlier than anticipated.

Will a split government be good for agriculture by moderating pushes for climate legislation and tax changes?

A key ag policy strategist says that rural voters reversed the 2018 "blue wave."

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson lost his bid to retain the seventh district House seat in Minnesota, losing to the state’s former lieutenant governor, republican Michelle Fischbach.

With just days remaining in the 2020 presidential campaign, farmers and ranchers responding to the Farm Journal Pulse continue to show a strong preference for retaining President Donald Trump.

A look at the ag issues that are driving the presidential campaigns across rural America.

Conservation leaders are looking for voluntary incentives for the future of conservation policy.

Pent up demand could drive farmland values higher.

Coronavirus restrictions have forced the American Farm Bureau Federation to switch to an all virtual format for their 2021 convention in January.

On this week's podcast: a look at the state of the presidential race and we get answers for growers waiting on WHIP+ payments.

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue violated the Hatch Act while at an Aug. 24 Farmers to Families Food Box event in North Carolina according the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

Growers will have access to state aggregated, from-the-combine, harvest data in a partnership between Pro Farmer and Farmobile.

A Vermont farmer woke Monday morning to find his entire hemp crop stolen, all 50 plants sheared off at the base of the stem.

Will money for 2020 crops, livestock indemnity or biofuels be in the second round of the Coronavirus Food Aid Program?

Send pictures or video of your 4-H'er to be a part of the #FarmON benefit concert for 4-H featuring Lee Brice.

Amid a long list of agricultural events canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Missouri State Fair is moving forward with plans for a somewhat modified fair starting Aug. 13.

While the remnants of Hurricane Cristobal drench much of the eastern U.S., USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey has his eye on signs of drought in the Plains.

Has your state fair cancelled for 2020? Check our interactive map.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) exclusively for agricultural businesses on Monday.  

Equipment manufacturers are being squeezed by plummeting demand and tightening access to cash, according to Kip Eideberg of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

See your banker today if you want Paycheck Protection Program money.

A deal to replenish the Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) under the coronavirus aid package has been reached, but had not yet been put to paper as of this afternoon according to Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).