Secretary Rollins Announces Major Investment for Rural Communities Across Georgia

Today in Georgia, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced $501 million in investments for 59 rural development projects and an additional $405 million in affordable housing in communities across the state of Georgia. These unprecedented investments, coordinated by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD), will help boost Georgia’s economy, develop rural infrastructure, and encourage private investment in America’s heartland.

“President Trump understands how important it is to have a safe, secure, and resilient farm economy. These USDA investments are a direct result of the promise President Trump made to make rural....

Secretary Rollins Announces Plan for American Ranchers and Consumers

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced a suite of actions to strengthen the American beef industry, reinforcing and prioritizing the American rancher’s critical role in the national security of the United States. Since 2017, the United States has lost over 17% of family farms, more than 100,000 operations over the last decade. The national herd is at a 75-year low while consumer...

USDA Responds to New NWS Case with Livestock Trade Restrictions

On Tuesday, reports emerged of a new case of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz, Mexico. This detection is located approximately 160 miles north of the current sterile fly dispersal grid and about 370 miles south of the US–Mexico border.

Earlier cases were reported in Oaxaca and Veracruz in May, prompting the closure of US ports to Mexican cattle, bison, and horses. At the end of June, the USDA announced a phased reopening strategy to begin...

Dr. Casey Means Appointed to US Surgeon General

On May 8, Dr. Casey Means was appointed to be the next US Surgeon General by US President Trump, after a recommendation from US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A forthcoming Senate hearing will occur to vote whether to confirm Means to this position, Expana has reported. 

Means associates diet with the root cause of the “chronic disease epidemic” in America. 

“Metabolic dysfunction is largely not a genetic issue. It’s caused by toxic American ultra-processed industrial food, toxic American chemicals, toxic American medication, and our toxic sedentary indoor lifestyles..."

Secretary Rollins Requires States to Provide Records on SNAP Benefits

Today, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will require States to make certain all records associated with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and allotments are shared with the federal government.

“President Trump is rightfully requiring the federal government to have access to all programs it funds,” said Secretary Rollins, “and SNAP is no exception. For years, this program has been on autopilot, with no USDA insight into real-time data. The Department is focused on appropriate and lawful participation in SNAP, and today’s request is one of many steps to ensure SNAP is preserved for only those eligible...

Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #7

Expana’s global team of specialist reporters has been tracking every twist and turn in the fluid tariff situation.

Click to read "Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #7."

This report allows the Expana community to see where key commodity markets stand as of this past week... Click the above PDF report, or keep scrolling to read in plain text...

FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Pork Carnitas Products 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert on behalf of Cargill Meat Solutions.

The alert follows a routine inspection that revealed equipment damage, raising concerns that pork carnitas products may be contaminated with metal fragments.

The potentially affected items were produced between April 1 and April 2, 2025, bear establishment number “EST. 46049” within the USDA mark of inspection, and were distributed to Aldi supermarkets nationwide.

These products are sold in 16-ounce...

Exclusive International Trade Centre Interview: Implications of Trump’s Tariff Regime

Julia Spies is the Chief of Trade and Market Intelligence for the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Switzerland. Spies and team analyze trade information and publish findings about market-specific trade intelligence on multiple online platforms, like Tradebriefs.intracen.org.

Recent shifts in the world of trade, including the latest round of United States tariffs and trade measures by other countries, has kept Spies and company busy, to say the least.

However, ITC members have watched trade measures, and in particular their impact on developing countries, long before these recent changes...

Zoetis Receives Conditional License from USDA for Avian Influenza Vaccine

Zoetis today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) has issued the company a conditional license for its Avian Influenza Vaccine, H5N2 Subtype, Killed Virus. The vaccine is labelled for use in chickens. The conditional license was granted on the demonstration of safety, purity, and reasonable expectation of efficacy based on serology data.

Zoetis is committed to supporting poultry producers with scientific solutions for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). The decision to vaccinate commercial poultry flocks against HPAI rests solely with...

2024 Exports Reveal Record-Breaking Year

Each day, I work with strategic partners and my team at the National Pork Board (NPB) to serve America’s 60,000 producers by adding value to every part of the pig, domestically and internationally. Today, I’m fired up to celebrate the record-breaking 2024 year-end pork export data released last week, indicating a volume of 3.03 million metric tons (+4% YoY) valued at $8.63 billion (+6%YoY).

2024 Year-End Data

Let’s look at some key highlights sourced directly from U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF):

• Pork exports to Mexico totaled 1.15...