Beginning Sept. 2, USDA said enrollment for the new dairy Margin Protection Program will be open to farmers.

USDA has reopened the Chinese market for California citrus allowing farmers to resume exports to the country this season.

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service announced seven international projects this year as part of the Food for Progress Program which will benefit more than 1.6 million people.

Today, USDA released the annual Expenditures on Children and Families report, also known as the Cost of Raising a Child, which projects a middle-income family will spend $245,340 to raise a child born in 2013.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) launched new expedited tracing procedures that will allow the agency to trace contaminated ground beef back to its source more quickly, remove it from commerce and find the root cause of the incident.

Favorable weather conditions in the nation’s agricultural states have yielded increasing amounts of corn and soybeans which are expected to reach record-breaking numbers in 2014.

New USDA food safety and inspection requirements draw both ire and praise.

Members of USDA, Congress and President Barack Obama joined African heads of state and government leaders this week for the first-ever African Leaders summit to determine ways that would enhance trade between the US and Africa.

USDA is asking for public input on a proposal that would provide more information to the public about the amount of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits used at retailers and grocery stores.

USDA recently released state fact sheets detailing the importance of agriculture trade. The state-specific fact sheets include each state’s top five agricultural exports in 2012 and the number of US jobs created by agriculture.