Category Archives: USDA

Swine operations in 38 states will be contacted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) starting in June 2021 and asked to participate in a national level study. This study focuses on the health, health practices and biosecurity employed by swine producers in this country. These confidential national studies have been occurring every 5-8 years for 30 years. National estimates of this type have found use in trade negotiations and providing objective information to the swine industry, policymakers and researchers of all types.

The Veterinarian Shortage Situations for fiscal year (FY) 2021 have been designated. The VMLRP application cycle is now OPEN. VMLRP application forms, application guide, and other applicant information are available online under VMLRP Applicants. The deadline for VMLRP applications is April 16, 2021 at 5 P.M. EST.

President Biden recently announced his goal of distributing 100 million COVID-19 vaccines to Americans in the first 100 days of his Administration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is leading the vaccination effort, and APHIS has deployed 119 employees to assist in several states. We are fortunate to have many highly skilled veterinary medical officers and animal health technicians who have the proper training, experience, and certifications to help accomplish this life-saving task, and we expect more deployments in the coming days. [Source: USDA APHIS 17 February 2021]

The newest video in the ongoing series, Feral Swine in America: Episode 3- Texas looks at the impacts feral swine have on cattle, sheep, and goat ranchers in Texas. [Source: USDA APHIS 2 February 2021]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Assistant Secretary for Health and Head of the Public Health Service Admiral Brett Giroir, M.D., establishing a regulatory environment at the Department of Agriculture for agricultural animal biotechnology innovation. [Source: USDA 19 January 2021]

The Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is designed to support education and extension activities and practice enhancement initiatives that will enable veterinarians, veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and veterinary technician students to gain specialized skills and provide practices with additional resources (e.g., equipment, personnel) needed to more effectively mitigate veterinary service shortages in the U.S. Ultimately, this program will bolster the capacity of private practitioners to provide food animal veterinary services in designated rural veterinarian shortage situations. The purpose of VSGP is to develop, implement, and sustain veterinary services and relieve veterinarian shortage situations in the U.S., which includes insular areas (see Part VIII, D of this RFA for a definition of “insular area”). [Source: USDA 15 January 2021]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $11.65 million in 14 projects to help agricultural producers and private landowners trap and control feral swine as part of the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. This investment expands the pilot program to new projects in Alabama, Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. [Source: USDA NRCS 13 January 2021]

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a significant step in modernizing regulations of agricultural animals modified or produced by genetic engineering. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be moving forward with an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit public input and feedback on a contemplated regulatory framework that would modernize our system into a scientifically-sound, risk-based, and predictable process that facilitates the development and use of these technologies for U.S. farmers and ranchers under USDA’s authorities. This initiative follows President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on agricultural biotechnology that called upon federal agencies to make regulatory improvements to rectify some of the long-standing barriers to innovation for U.S. agriculture. [Source: USDA 21 December 2020]

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has updated its FMD Response Plan for the United States as part of continued efforts to strengthen response capabilities in the event of a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. [Source: USDA 23 November 2020]

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) 2017 Census of Agriculture web mapping application for major animal agricultural commodities. [Source: USDA 16 November 2020]