The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) invites comments on a proposed change to the maturity requirements for the Beta avocado variety under the federal marketing order for avocados grown in South Florida. 

Q1: I know this is a broad question, but how are deviations negotiated? For example, if a ham doesn't meet a chill curve, but we could send the ham off for testing to ensure there are no toxins and its safe, and our local inspector accept the results, does that allow us to ship the product to USDA?

Meeting Materials

The Crow Tribe requests $2,250,00 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program for the purpose of supporting locally raised and tribally owned cattle and buffalo producers, while providing Tribal members with greater access to food products within their own communities. The Crow Tribe will directly distribute local cattle and buffalo to Tribal members, while supporting the development of Tribal producers and local food systems. 

The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (Tribe) has made significant strides towards food sovereignty in recent years and this project will continue to expand upon those efforts. The Tribe creates food access for its community members through various programs and services, for example the Elderly Meal Program and the Food Distribution Center, among others. These programs work on tight budgets and have limited access to high quality, local, and traditional foods.

View the Specialty Crops Program Commercial Item Descriptions Fact Sheet (pdf)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced today that beginning Oct. 1, it will start using a form of electrophoresis protein testing known as the Isoelectric focusing (IEF) gel method to distinguish Kentucky 31 from other tall fescue varieties for complaints under the Federal Seed Act. This new method for testing was developed after many years of parallel testing and outreach to stakeholders.