The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is modifying the maturity requirements for the Beta avocado variety under the federal marketing order for avocados grown in South Florida.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting comments on a proposed rule to modify the handling requirements for sweet cherries grown in designated counties in Washington.  

Washington, D.C., March 17, 2026 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) took action to delay the effective date of the Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems final rule from July 1, 2026, to December 31, 2027.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced plans to purchase Fresh Tomato products for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs. Purchases will be made under the authority of Section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935 (Section 32).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a referendum among eligible tart cherry growers and processors March 30 through April 20, 2026, to determine their level of support for continuing their federal marketing order.

The order requires USDA to conduct a continuance referendum every six years in March. To be eligible to vote, growers or processors within the production area must have produced or processed tart cherries during the period of July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the termination of the Paper and Paper-Based Packaging Promotion, Research and Information Order. The termination of the order ends the research and promotion program that was established in 2014 to expand the market for paper and paper-based packaging. The Paper and Packaging Board administered the program with oversight from USDA.

In 2024, the European Union (EU) passed Article 118, which sets forth additional public health requirements related to the use of antimicrobials used in human health and antimicrobials used for growth promotion. The USDA Export Verification (EV) Program for Natural Pork Casings for the EU is a voluntary, user-fee service available to pork harvest facilities to provide verification that natural pork casings are derived from animals that meet the EU public health requirements.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 authorizes USDA to conduct cost surveys of dairy product manufacturing cost data and related dairy product yield information for all products produced at plants required to report price information under the Dairy Products Mandatory Reporting Program defined in section 273 of the Agricultural Market Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1637b) and publish a biennial report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominees for the Peanut Standards Board to fill seats for six producers and six industry representatives. Six seats will be appointed for two-year terms of office ending June 30, 2028, and six seats will be appointed for three-year terms of office ending June 30, 2029. Nominations will be accepted by mail and email, and nomination forms must be submitted to the board by April 17, 2026. 
 

The board is seeking nominees for producers and industry representatives for the following areas: 
 

Summary Information

• Meeting details, presentations, and voting summary

Certification, Accreditation, and Compliance (CACS)

• Risk-based Certification (pdf)
• Residue Testing for a Global Supply Chain § 205.671 (pdf)

Crops (CS)