Rod Bain

Journalist at United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

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Articles

Trump administration announces USDA nominees list

Jan 22, 2025 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

The Trump Administration has announced four nominations for senior level positions within the Agriculture Department. Following the nomination of Texas' Brooke Rollins as agricultural secretary and former USDA general council Stephen Vaden as deputy secretary, four more selections have been announced, including former Farm Service Agency administrator Richard Fordyce to oversee FSA and other farm production and conservation agencies as undersceretary.
USDA announces crop reduction adjustments, expectations,

Oct 15, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

What to make of USDA's October crop-production forecast? Chief economist Seth Meyer provides analysis. "We had a little bit of a yield increase in corn. The yield was up 2/10 of a bushel from the previous estimate and that was pretty much in line with what trade expectations were," Meyer said. "This remains the second-biggest corn crop in U.S. history. You look at beans and despite the fact that we've reduced bean yields a little bit - 1/10 of a bushel - this is the largest soybean crop in history.
Slight Adjustments in USDA October Corn and Bean Production Forecasts

Oct 15, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

Production forecasts for the nation's corn and soybean crops were adjusted from the previous month. There is a mixed bag of production adjustments recorded in USDA's October crop-production forecast. The latest projections released Friday show a less than 1% increase in corn production from the previous month, coinciding with a slight adjustment up of corn yields. Soybean production forecast month-over-month however, were lowered slightly.
Some Farm Bill programs continue operations. Some don't

Oct 8, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

Most Farm Bill programs will continue operation to year’s end if new legislation is not passed. However, some expired on Sept. 30. The questions are: what USDA programs have been halted and what programs continue to operate past the Sept. 30 expiration? Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack explained, "Some programs that are called orphan programs that effective, Sept. 30, basically stopped. There are a couple of organic programs. There's a couple of conservation programs that have stopped.
Farmers receive less despite increased price index

Sep 5, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

Crop and livestock growers, in total, made less for their commodities in the latest USDA Agricultural Prices report period, despite an increase in the livestock price index. Despite a rise month over month in what livestock producers received pricewise for their commodities, USDA's most recent agricultural prices report covering the month of July, shows a total decline in prices received by Ag growers.
Updated USDA guidelines to animal raising and meat labels

Sep 3, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

Updates to USDA guidelines have been announced for both animal-raising and environmental-related claims found on meat and poultry labels. Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, Sandra Eskin, says among the guideline adjustments, is strong encouragement of use of third-party verification sources. "They're particularly valuable because USDA's authority does not reach back to the farm; we cannot determine whether a product is in fact grass fed or free range," Eskin says.
Acreage Offered Accepted for 2024 CRP Enrollment

Aug 21, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency has announced this year’s acreage enrollment numbers for the various Conservation Reserve Program offerings. The program currently has an acreage-enrollment cap of 27 million acres. Yet, as Farm Service Administrator.
USDA looks at farmland values

Aug 19, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

Farm real estate values continue to increase year over year. "We're looking at an increase of $200 an acre over the last year to an average of $4,170," said USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer. That's up 5% year over year. When land and buildings on farms are broken down by crop land and pasture land, "Look at crop land value. We're talking the average land value up to $5,570 an acre from $5,320 the year before. That's an increase of $250 an acre," Meyer said. That's a 4.7% increase from 2023.
Balance sheet effects from record U.S. bean production

Aug 15, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

How does this year’s record setting U.S. soybean production translate into both the domestic and world supply and demand ledgers? A record U.S. soybean crop forecasted in August adding to the global bean balance sheet for the upcoming marketing year. "Global soybean production was raised about 6.9 million metric tons. 4.2 million of that is an increase in the U.S. alone," said the World Agricultural Outlook board chair Mark Jekanowski.
Midwestern crops develop under beneficial weather

Jul 24, 2024 | norfolkneradio.com | Rod Bain

The USDA said July has been mostly favorable in terms of temperatures for corn and soybeans across the Midwest. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said that is showing in the crop condition with more than 2/3 of both corn and beans rated in good to excellent condition on July 21st. "Most areas will be relatively dry. We'll see showers from time to time, but I think most areas picking up less than an inch and given the current existing conditions it's a week of relatively dry weather.