Vilsack leaving USDA early, no Trump replacement named

Secretary Tom Vilsack left the Agriculture Department a week before his tenure ends and before President-elect Donald Trump has chosen his replacement. Vilsack, who has led USDA for eight years and was President Barack Obama's longest-serving Cabinet secretary, told employees in an email that Friday is his final day.

Booming Lentil Prices Are Back After Canadian Harvest Washout

In the middle of 2016, prices for the pulse crop had plunged from record highs on the outlook for large global harvests. Now, the curry-and-soup food staple has rebounded more than 40 percent since August after rain and snow damaged a bumper crop in Canada, the world's top exporter.

Bird flu-plagued South Korea agrees to buy US eggs

In this Dec. 28, 2016, file photo, customers look at eggs at a discount store in Seoul, South Korea, a day after government officials announced that millions of chickens would be culled because of an outbreak of bird flu. Because of the spreading bird flu outbreak, South Korea has asked the United States for the first time to ship it shell eggs.

CenturyLink adds SDN, NFV to Defense Dept. contract service lineup

CenturyLink has added SDN and NFV to its Defense Research and Engineering Network III contract service lineup, signaling a trend that public sector agencies are advancing their own network virtualization efforts. This deployment is being carried out with the U.S. Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program .

Qualcomm’s latest technology allows drones to learn about their environment as they fly

Drones took up a lot of floor space at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, but one of the most impressive displays of new drone tech came from Qualcomm. The chipmaker showed off the latest iteration of its Snapdragon Flight Drone Platform, which allows for flight control and machine learning in real time onboard a drone.

West Virginia senators meet EPA – Spick

President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency received positive marks from West Virginia senators this week, with one inviting him to the state to discuss issues related to Wood County communities. In a release from Trump's transition team, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he believes Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has the right experience to be the next EPA administrator.

White House Announces Release of Final Update to the Coordinated…

On January 4, 2016, the White House announced the release of the 2017 Update to the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology . The Update to the Coordinated Framework provides a comprehensive summary of the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , and the U.S. Department of Agriculture with respect to regulating biotechnology products.

USDA Announces Seven Retailers to Participate in Pilot Program, Accept Food Stamps Online

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a pilot program that would allow participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to purchase groceries online. Seven retailers will begin accepting food stamps online as part of an effort to make healthy food more available to Americans dependent on the SNAP program.

Researchers seek genes that control wheat yield

University of California-Davis plant geneticist Jorge Dubcovsky examines one of the wheat plants being raised in an indoor growth chamber. Photo courtesy of Karin Higgins/UC Davis DAVIS, CALIFORNIA, U.S. - With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture , researchers are attempting to identify and characterize the genes controlling wheat yield.

Perdue Is Trump’s Lead Pick for Agriculture Secretary

Sonny Perdue III, the former governor of Georgia, is president-elect Donald Trump's leading candidate to be his U.S. secretary of agriculture, according to a person familiar with the matter. Perdue, 70, would succeed secretary Tom Vilsack.

UPDATE 1-U.S. scrambles to clear egg exports to bird flu-hit Korea

U.S. officials are urgently seeking an agreement with South Korea that would allow imports of American eggs so farmers can cash in on a shortage caused by the Asian country's worst-ever outbreak of bird flu. The two sides are negotiating over terms of potential shipments after South Korea lifted a ban on imports of U.S. table eggs that it imposed when the United States grappled with its own bout of bird flu last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.