US Department of Agriculture

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that the population in rural areas is on the rise after a decade of decline.

Over 100 billion pounds of food goes to waste every year in America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to Food Bank is trying to cut down on that waste by connecting local farmers and food pantries, but it’s future depends on how much funding is included for the program in the next farm bill.

Farmers got a slightly smaller percentage of what consumers spent on food in 2022 than the year before, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In most cases, Thanksgiving staples return cents on the dollar to farmers.

A new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children was underutilized. In 2021, it served only about half the number of those who qualified.

Drought has affected several pumpkin-producing states, including Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. But rain arrived at the right time to produce a bumper crop in parts of the Midwest.

Farmers say Title One — a farm bill program that sends money when crop prices or harvests get low enough — isn’t working as a buffer against tough years. Yet others argue the nearly 100-year-old safety net is costing billions of dollars with few strings attached.

A change in USDA policy will make it easier for schools to offer free meals to all students, but they will still have to pay for part of the cost.

A slowdown in the agricultural industry is "going to put a strain on farmers." But analysts say the rural economy in the Midwest and Great Plains is still doing well.

City officials in Carbondale passed a resolution that supports changing Shawnee National Forest into a national park and climate preserve.

Updated at 6 p.m. June 24 with comments from a USDA local union presidentMore than 1,000 federal jobs will relocate to downtown St. Louis from a north…