The Issues of the Day

January 15, 2020

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. The ag industry is excited as a number of trade deals are coming...

USDA

Look Back and Ahead

January 2, 2020

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. It’s a New Year. 2020 got here so fast. I want to look...

USDA

Exciting Week

December 17, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Just when I had concluded that we couldn’t get anything done here in...

USDA

Farm Economy and More

December 6, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I want to cover some trade issues today, but first let’s take a...

For Export

Oh SNAP! FNS Removes All Names from the SAM List

November 20, 2019

GSA’s System for Award Management is a comprehensive database of persons excluded from doing business with the federal government. Widely...

USDA

Challenges We Face

November 20, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I have a number of subjects I will put on the table today....

USDA

Trade Deals

November 7, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. All we hear about are the trade deals we can’t get completed. Our...

FDA

Initial NFP Compliance Date – 6 Months Enforcement Discretion

October 24, 2019

In response to requests received from multiple stakeholders, FDA has agreed, in effect, to exercise enforcement discretion relative to the...

USDA

Rough Road We Ride

October 15, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. We are all quite aware that the Ag Industry has had it tough...

USDA

This & That

October 9, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. The meat industry in the U.S. has been shaken by the explosion of...

USDA

Harvest

October 2, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Last week I was on the farm. Looking out over the fields of...

USDA

GE Salmon

September 24, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. I will be on our farm in Illinois later in the week. We...

USDA

Farm Safety Week

September 18, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Ever since the past administration rewrote the WOTUS (Waters of the U.S.) rule,...

USDA

Today’s Issues

September 11, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. They are back. House Members and Senators, after a long summer recess, are...

USDA

Trade and GE Tech

August 7, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. As much as we would like to – the Ag industry can not...

USDA

Ag Industry

July 30, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. We keep reading that unless we increase farm production, we won’t be able...

USDA

Budget Deal

July 24, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. There were a lot of doubters, including myself, but it looks like we...

For Export

Oh, SNAP! Federal District Court Judge Orders FNS to Remove Owner of SNAP Retailer’s Name from the SAM List

July 22, 2019

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Not surprisingly, that means...

USDA

Trade

July 18, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Some listeners might get tired of hearing about trade disputes. Why are they...

USDA

Down on the Farm

July 10, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Here I am on the farm in Illinois. I will update you on...

USDA

Issues of the Day

June 26, 2019

By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. Hot issues of the day – Are we going to war with Iran?...

For Export

Oh, SNAP! The Supreme Court Holds Store Level SNAP Redemption Data is Confidential Under FOIA Exemption 4

June 25, 2019

In a major victory for grocers, the United States Supreme Court (in a 6-3 decision) held that store level SNAP...

FDA

FDA Publishes Draft Guidance For Sprout Seed Producers

June 25, 2019

Sprouts are associated with numerous foodborne illness outbreaks. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), more than 2,600...

FDA

EPA and DHA Qualified Health Claims: A Compliance Guide for Food and Supplement Labels

June 21, 2019

A qualified health claim is one of the few tools FDA gives food and supplement companies to link an ingredient...

News & Insights

The Issues of the Day

Look Back and Ahead

Exciting Week

Farm Economy and More

Oh SNAP! FNS Removes All Names from the SAM List

Challenges We Face

Trade Deals

Initial NFP Compliance Date – 6 Months Enforcement Discretion

Rough Road We Ride

This & That

Harvest

GE Salmon

Farm Safety Week

Today’s Issues

Trade and GE Tech

Ag Industry

Budget Deal

Oh, SNAP! Federal District Court Judge Orders FNS to Remove Owner of SNAP Retailer’s Name from the SAM List

Trade

Down on the Farm

Issues of the Day

Oh, SNAP! The Supreme Court Holds Store Level SNAP Redemption Data is Confidential Under FOIA Exemption 4

FDA Publishes Draft Guidance For Sprout Seed Producers

EPA and DHA Qualified Health Claims: A Compliance Guide for Food and Supplement Labels

Industries

Our Firm

Insights