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USDA delays putting organic livestock and poultry rules into action

By Robert Holly | May 12, 2017

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is — for the second time — delaying the implementation of organic rules for the treatment and living conditions of poultry and livestock.

Database: Tracking Covid-19’s impact on meatpacking workers and industry

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) meat inspectors and graders perform their mission.

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We are seeking applicants for the USA TODAY Network Agriculture Data Fellowship at the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting in Champaign, Ill. Deadline to apply is Nov.

Opinion

Opinion: OSHA and Big Meat should be investigated over COVID-19 response

Last month our worst fears were confirmed after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a pair of COVID-19 safety violation related fines against Big-Meat giants China WH-group owned Smithfield Foods and Brazilian-owned JBS. Mismanagement at Smithfield’s meat packing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota resulted in almost 13-hundred COVID-19 positive tests. Four plant workers died. JBS is equally culpable. At the JBS USA plant in Greeley, Colorado 290 workers tested positive for COVID-19. Six have died.

Our Latest

USDA Exempts Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule

WASHINGTON, Oct.
Opinion: OSHA and Big Meat should be investigated over COVID-19 response

Last month our worst fears were confirmed after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a pair of COVID-19 safety violation related fines against Big Meat giants China WH-group owned Smithfield Foods and Brazilian-owned JBS. Mismanagement at Smithfield’s meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota resulted in almost 1,300 COVID-19 positive tests.
EPA allows use of dicamba through 2025, with new restrictions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved dicamba herbicides for use over-the-top of genetically modified cotton and soybean crops for five years, Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Tuesday.

Rural America

Minnesota has figured out a way to help stressed farmers. Can it be replicated?

This story is part of a yearlong project exploring the ways farmers and farming communities tackle mental health and is supported with a grant from the Solutions Journalism Network. When Pam Uhlenkamp separated from her husband earlier this year, she knew the person to call. As a farm business management instructor, Uhlenkamp mentors farmers one-on-one.

From the USDA

USDA Exempts Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced a final Alaska Roadless Rule that exempts the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 provision that prohibited road construction, road reconstruction and timber harvests.

SEEDS OF DESPAIR: Isolated, and with limited access to mental-health care, hundreds are dying by suicide.

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The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit, online newsroom offering investigative and enterprise coverage of agribusiness,big ag and related issues through data analysis, visualizations, in-depth reports and interactive web tools. Learn More »

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