Recall includes salads and wraps sold at Kroger, Walgreens

On Monday, a public health alert issued by the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service advised certain beef, pork and poultry salad and wrap products might be contaminated with cyclospora. The products were sold by grocery stores including Kroger, Trader Joe's and Walgreens.

Colorado cleans up after storm spawns at least 3 tornadoes

This Sunday, July 29, 2018, photo provided by Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner shows damage from a storm just after it hit the area near Brush, Colo. People on the plains of northeastern Colorado were cleaning up Monday from a powerful storm that swept through the state, ripping off roofs, flipping trucks and damaging crops.

Sonny Perdue defends Trump trade fight at G-20 summit

Agriculture ministers are not used to working in the hot glare of media attention, but that was before President Trump and his fellow world leaders put farmers and food at the center of the fight over the future of the world trading system. Mr. Trump last week pledged $12 billion in aid to tariff-hit U.S. farmers while declaring he had "just opened up Europe" for products.

USDA slams EU’s decision on regulating gene-edited products

These non-browning mushrooms, which were gene-edited, need no special approval by the USDA in the United States, but if they were sent to European Union countries, they'd face the same regulations as GMOs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is calling out a recent ruling in the European Union that puts products from new "gene editing" methods such as CRISPR in the same category of all techniques for genetically modified organisms.

The Senate is in session this week. The House is in recess.

The Senate reconvenes today at 3:00 pm to consider the nomination of Britt Grant to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to her nomination to the Eleventh Circuit, Grant served as solicitor general of Georgia and on the Supreme Court of Georgia.

A look at votes in Congress last week

SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE: The House has passed the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act , sponsored by Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, to require the Federal Communications Commission to study the possibility of creating a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system with an easy to remember phone number. Stewart said the bill was intended to "streamline and to provide easy access to potentially lifesaving resources by designating a new and very simple national three-digit dialing number, very similar to 911, for national suicide prevention and mental health crisis."

Microloans help farmers purchase farmland, improve propertyAlso,…

These microloans will be especially helpful to beginning or underserved farmers, U.S. veterans looking for a career in farming, and those who have small and mid-sized farming operations. Microloans have helped farmers with operating costs, such as feed, fertilizer, tools, fencing, equipment, and living expenses since 2013.

Tariffs put political squeeze on Greg Pence as Cummins strongly opposes them Source: Cox Media Group

The top executive of engine maker Cummins has one description for the tariffs the United States has imposed on steel, aluminum and other imports. "Let's be clear: a tariff is a tax, plain and simple," CEO Tom Linebarger wrote in an opinion piece published in The New York Times Wednesday.

Children’s Meal Program Keeps Expanding In Alachua County

Every year, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service funds a national summer food service program which helps feed children 18 and under during the summer break from school. Alachua County Public Schools is the sponsor for sites in the county with its Food and Nutrition department.

Here’s what really scares soybean farmers about Trump’s trade battle with China

Farmers don't seem to be brimming with relief over the Trump administration's plan to offset the impact of trade tensions with a $12 billion, stopgap trade package nor the European Union's apparent vow to begin snapping up more U.S. soybeans. It all comes down to market share and the fact that for commodity producers, it can be very hard to recover once lost.

Minnesota County Cropland Rental Rates available

Average, Median, 10 Percent Lowest Average Rents and 10 Percent Highest Average Rents are listed by county in the recently released publication titled The rental rates come from rents paid by farmers who participate in Adult Farm Management programs across Minnesota. This publication provides a historical perspective on rental rates paid by a group of Minnesota farmers and trends in those rental rates over the past five years.

Sen. Murkowski Won’t Support Trump Farm Plan

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, does not support President Donald Trump's plan to help farmers who have been hurt by his tariffs, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Murkowski said in an interview with the newspaper that Trump's plan, which aims to use the Agriculture Department's Commodity Credit Corp. to help farmers at a cost of $12 billion, is too costly, too slow and simply "a very small Band-Aid for a much broader problem."

Bill seeks to expand internet access on farms

Iowa Rep. Dave Loebsack successfully moved legislation through the U.S. House of Representatives this week to help farmers access "cutting-edge" broadband technology. Loebsack, representing the 2nd Congressional District, which includes southeast Iowa, wrote the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act with Republican Rep. Bob Latta of Ohio.

Trump tariffs put GOP on defense in Tennessee’s Senate race

Yet the Republican Senate candidate is struggling to explain President Donald Trump's nascent trade war to her state's local business community. Jack Daniel's whiskey and Jimmy Tosh's hog farm are among those warning that Trump's trade policies - and the Republican candidates who support them - are hurting the very people who backed the Republican president in the first place.

Farmers need USDA help

Farmers need USDA help $12 billion will help deal with consequences of a trade war not of our making, writes Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://usat.ly/2LopLKP $12 billion package will help farmers and ranchers deal with the consequences of a trade war not of our making: Opposing view The Agriculture Department on Tuesday announced a $12 billion package to help farmers and ranchers deal with the consequences of a trade war not of our making.

USDA: President Trump stands by American farmers

USDA: President Trump stands by American farmers Instead of retaliatory tariffs, the correct Chinese response would be to stop their bad behavior: Opposing view Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://usat.ly/2uPeJ7l In the Olympics, if opposing athletes continuously broke the rules while the officials let them get away with it, American fans would want our coaches to raise a fuss. That's what has been happening in the arena of international trade, and President Donald Trump is rightly calling out our competitors for unfair play.

Taco Bell cheese dips being recalled due to possible botulism risk

Employees of Kraft Heinz announced Tuesday that the food company is voluntarily recalling 7,000 cases of its Taco Bell cheese dip, because the dips have shown signs that they could grow the bacteria that causes botulism. The company is recalling 15-ounce jars of Taco Bell Salsa Con Queso Mild Cheese Dip with a variety of best-by dates ranging from Oct. 31, 2018 to Jan. 23, 2019.