On November 8, 2023, USDA announced its intent to clarify that meat products must be from animals that are born, raised, and slaughtered in the U.S. to meet the domestic origin requirements for purposes of USDA purchasing. AMS procures food products of domestic origin for use in nutrition assistance programs and regularly evaluates the effectiveness of its food purchase programs. Upon review, the guidelines for procuring beef, pork, lamb, and bison products were not as clear as other commodities.

For more information on USDA Meat Grading Service eligibility, participation requirements for the Remote Grading Program for Beef (RGP), and how to get started, refer to the RGP Guide to Getting Started (pdf)

For the purposes of the RGP, the following document serves to guide the roles and responsibilities of the Applicant and USDA.

Before contacting the AMS Livestock and Poultry Program (AMS-LP) about the Remote Grading Program for Beef (RGP), it is important to understand what official quality grading and certification is and consider whether these voluntary fee-based services are applicable to your meat packing operation and how they may benefit your marketing objectives. The following resources may assist with these considerations:

Law: Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946

Matching imaging technology with robust data management and program oversight, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) developed a process for determining the official quality grading and certification of carcass beef from a remote location.

• View the description of projects funded in FY2024 (pdf)
• View the OMDG FY 2024 Public Dataset (xlsx) Updated January 8th, 2025.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for the Area 2 Colorado Potato Administrative Committee to fill four producer member seats, three handler member seats, and seven alternate member seats whose terms will begin June 1, 2024. Nominations must be made prior to or during the nomination meetings being held in each district.

The nomination meetings for all districts and Alamosa, Bulk, and Independent Handlers will be held February 6-8, 2024, from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. at Outcalt Ski-Hi Complex in Monte Vista, Colorado. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for the National Mango Board to fill seats for six members whose terms begin on Jan. 1, 2025, and end Dec. 31, 2027.

The National Mango Board is seeking nominees for the following seats:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for the National Watermelon Promotion Board to fill 13 member seats whose terms begin on Jan. 1, 2025, and end Dec. 31, 2027.

The National Watermelon Promotion Board is seeking nominees for:

• Two producer and two handler seats from District 2
• Two producer and two handler seats from District 3
• Five importer seats

District 2 consists of Georgia. District 3 consists of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of a final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the Local Meat Capacity (Local MCap) Grants program. The PEA analyzes and discloses the potential environmental impacts associated with the establishment of the Local MCap grant program.