Agriculture closes offices in Conn., other states after threats

The Agriculture Department said Tuesday it had closed offices in five states after receiving anonymous threats that it considered serious. USDA spokesman Matthew Herrick said in a statement that the department had received "several anonymous messages" late Monday that raised concerns about the safety of USDA personnel and facilities.

Donald Trump seeks support in Iowa warning ‘war on the American farmer,’ by rival Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump warned Saturday of a "war on the American farmer," telling a crowd in Iowa that rival Hillary Clinton "wants to shut down family farms" and implement anti-agriculture policies. Trump's speech at the annual "Roast and Ride" fundraiser for Republican Sen. Joni Ernst came just hours after Clinton received her first national security briefing as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Senate Judiciary Committee To Hold Hearings On Ag Company Mergers

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARINGS ON AG COMPANY MERGERS Aug. 24, 2016 Des Moines Register reports: Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said Tuesday he will hold a hearing next month to discuss a wave of consolidation among seed and chemical producers, including the merger of Dow and DuPont. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said he is calling the hearing because some producers have expressed a "great deal of concern" about the mergers.

ChemChina Clinches U.S. Security Nod for Syngenta Purchase

China National Chemical Corp. received approval from U.S. national security officials for its takeover of Swiss agrochemical and seeds company Syngenta AG, seen as the biggest regulatory hurdle that the $43 billion acquisition faces. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. has cleared the transaction, the companies said in a statement Monday.

Garden Q&A: What organic means; what are the moth-looking insects in…

I was in the grocery store and started wondering, what am I really getting when I buy organic fruits and vegetables? What makes one onion organic, and another not? The United States Department of Agriculture answers your question this way: "Organic agriculture produces products using methods that preserve the environment and avoid most synthetic materials, such as pesticides and antibiotics," and "a are grown and processed according to federal guidelines addressing, among many factors, soil quality, animal raising practices, pest and weed control, and use of additives." The key words in that rather long definition are "according to federal guidelines."

Trump team talks trade, labor with U.S. farm groups

Advisers to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump pledged to U.S. agricultural groups that he will give growers and states a say on national farm policy should he be elected, two association leaders said on Friday. Eleven groups representing farmers, seed companies and other players in the sector met for the first time with Trump's top agricultural advisers in Washington on Monday to make recommendations on policy, following a similar meeting with representatives of rival Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in June.

We Need To Keep Ringing the Bell’: An Interview with Dolores Huerta

In 1965, Huerta helped organize the United Farm Workers' national grape boycott, which caused grape growers in California to sign a three-year collective bargaining agreement, raised the consciousness of the nation about deplorable working conditions for farm workers, and launched a movement to improve those conditions that continues to this day. Huerta, eighty-six, has been engaged in the struggle for justice for most of her life.