Industry

A salad is supposed to be a healthy decision, not an act of blind faith. But the inspection trail behind imported produce has some uncomfortable holes. Inspection deficit: An analysis of federal records found the FDA had inspected just 7.6% of major overseas fresh-produce facilities responsible for 90% of shipments into the United States since 2009. For Mexican facilities, the figure was about 2%. Those figures measure site visits, not whether every unvisited farm is unsafe.

National FFA has spent generations teaching young people how to lead. Now some of the grown-ups are arguing about where the organization itself should go. That's one way to make a leadership lesson interactive. Jacket tug-of-war: Former officers, educators and lawmakers have questioned National FFA's approach to diversity and outside partnerships. An October examination describes disagreement over whether the organization is broadening opportunity or drifting from its agricul

Corteva’s seed business just got its own company, and the legal paperwork arrived faster than a farm dog hearing a feed sack open. Split decision: Sixteen states and territories are suing Corteva and its new seeds and genetics spinoff, Vylor, claiming the new companyreceived valuable former DuPont assets without taking on PFAS liabilities. The suit seeks to unwind the transfer, which is not exactly the welcome basket most spinoffs dream about. Liability row: The complaint say

The beef supply chain in southwest Kansas hit a human-resources problem that quickly became a cattle problem. Backed up: Heightened immigration enforcement activity around Dodge City, Liberal and surrounding communities led some meatpacking employees to miss work. Livestock groups said thousands of fed cattle were delayed, creating added feed, yardage and transportation costs while finished animals waited for a processing slot. Some plants temporarily slowed or stopped lines,

New Mexico just got a fresh inspection stamp, and small processors may be very interested in the ink. The move: USDA and the New Mexico State Livestock Board finalized an agreement bringing the state into the State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program. That makes New Mexico the 31st state with an approved state program, giving local processors another inspection lane while keeping standards federally equivalent. The bigger plate: The timing is not random. USDA also launched th

Rural electric co-ops just got invited to the nuclear conversation, which is one way to make the monthly board meeting feel slightly more cinematic. Power move: USDA opened $175 million for the Affordable Rural Cooperative Program, or ARC, to help eligible rural electric cooperatives pursue nuclear power supply and transmission efficiency projects. The program runs through USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service and offers loans and grants for systems that could impr

The federal beef yield grade system is having a midlife crisis, except it is 60 years old and still grading carcasses like the cattle never discovered feed efficiency, bigger frames or the modern urge to become a couch with hooves. The wrinkle: Feeders are sending increasingly fatter cattle to slaughter after longer days on feed, chasing pounds in a market where beef still has more pricing power than a county fair lemonade stand. Dale Woerner, Texas Tech University meat scien

The rumor mill became a rulemaking mill, and corn country is once again standing near the blender with one eyebrow raised. Waiver math: EPA announced decisions on 34 small refinery exemption petitions for 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard obligations. The agency granted 18 full exemptions, 11 partial exemptions, denied three and found two ineligible. That is not a tiny paperwork shuffle. It is a stack of fuel policy receipts big enough to make ethanol plants start stress-chewing c

Biofuels had finally found a little tailwind, so naturally Washington grabbed the weather machine. The rumor mill: Reports that EPA may grant nearly double the expected number of small refinery exemptions from 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard obligations have rattled biofuel groups. The concern is not tiny. If nearly all refinery requests get a pass, industry leaders say roughly 1 billion gallons of biofuel demand could disappear from the blend pile. Backstory barrel: EPA already

Meat case math: President Donald Trump wants cheaper ground beef, so Washington is reaching for the oldest trick in the pantry: more supply, now served with a generous helping of “don’t ask where it came from.” The plan would let up to 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings enter the U.S. for 90 days without the out-of-quota tariff, tied to a promised 25% discount. The sizzle: Consumers are still staring down record-high beef prices, and the U.S. herd is sitting near a 75

No deal, Deere: UAW members at John Deere voted down a proposed contract extension that would have stretched the current agreement through 2029. The offer included 4% annual wage increases, $3,000 yearly bonuses and no major changes to pensions or health care, which sounds tidy until workers remember job security also exists. Green machine tension: Shawn Fain, UAW president, said workers know their worth and want the company back at the table in 2027. Deere said it was disapp

The beef packing business is starting to look like musical chairs, except the chairs are giant plants and nobody wants to be the cow standing when the song stops. The squeeze: Beef packing has been concentrated for decades, with the four largest firms handling most steer and heifer purchases. That structure can make plants efficient, but it also means any capacity shuffle lands loudly in cattle country. Fewer bidders is not exactly the kind of auction energy producers dream a

The beef business is doing that thing where the steak is expensive, the packers are losing money and everyone involved looks equally annoyed. Plant math: Tyson is closing its Joslin, Illinois, beef plant and looking to sell its Pasco, Washington, facility as the cattle supply stays painfully tight. Joslin employs more than 2,300 people, which makes this more than just a spreadsheet with bad vibes. Not a one-off: This follows the company’s earlier Lexington, Nebraska, closure,

Food ingredient oversight may finally get a better guest book, which is awkward news for mystery additives that preferred entering through the side door. The proposal: FDA wants companies to notify regulators before bringing new ingredients or additives to market under the “generally recognized as safe” pathway. Right now, companies can make that call on their own, which is convenient in the same way leaving your toddler alone with frosting is convenient. Fine print: GRAS doe

Fresh produce is having a rough run, and the salad drawer is starting to look less wholesome and more like a risk-management exercise with ranch dressing. Lettuce pray: Federal investigators have been tracking a nine-state Cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. The investigation grew after nearly 2,000 cases were reported among people who had eaten at Taco Bell, which is not

The Senate farm bill did not make it out of the gate before August recess. So yes, farmers are once again waiting on Congress, which is basically crop rotation but for disappointment. How it started: U.S. Senator John Boozman, R-Ark., chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, had hoped to move his Farm Bill 2.0 discussion draft through committee before the break. The draft included more than 100 bipartisan priorities, including risk management, conservation flexibility, spec

A couple hundred miles from the nearest big livestock headline, the sale barn is doing exactly what sale barns do best: getting loud, getting dusty and quietly telling you where demand is headed next. Bleat market: Demand for goats and sheep has moved well past the “somebody’s side project” stage. Buyers are showing up with real interest, and small producers are finding that animals once treated like pasture extras can bring serious receipts. The pull is coming from immigrant

Plastic pickle: California’s sweeping packaging law is getting very real for agriculture, and the produce aisle is suddenly checking its calendar like it forgot an appointment. The State Board of Food and Agriculture is stepping into the SB 54 debateas growers warn the first deadlines could arrive before workable alternatives do. Nothing says “fresh strawberries” like policy panic in a clamshell. The clamshell problem: Strawberry shippers rely on PET clamshells for cooling, v

Moo-d point: California dairy producers are staring down a proposed groundwater protection order that could make manure management feel less like nutrient planning and more like a legal escape room with lagoon samples. Dairy groups are urging regulators to simplify the proposed order, warning that overlapping directives, pond requirements and still-fuzzy compliance costs could accelerate closures in the Central Valley. The manure math: The draft dairy order focuses on reducin

All aboard: AGP says the first long-haul U.S. unit train of soybean oil has shipped from Nebraska, giving renewable fuel supply chains a new rail-sized flex. That is a lot of soy oil moving at once, which is either logistics innovation or the most Midwestern train set imaginable. The route: The train left AGP's David City processing facility and headed toward renewable diesel demand on the West Coast. Unit trains move a single commodity in bulk, which can reduce handling and