Farmers in Central Indiana say despite decent looking crops, they don’t expect to make much money this year as corn and soybean prices remain low due to huge disruptions in the agriculture market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food insecurity was a problem in Indiana well before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, roughly one million Hoosiers had limited or uncertain access to adequate food, above the national average.

WEST LAFAYETTE — When Indiana farmers take to the fields later this spring, it appears they have plans to plant a lot more corn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued its 2020 Prospective Plantings report, an early-season estimate of how many acres of major crops will be planted across the U.S. this year. The …read more.

WARSAW — Warsaw Community School Corporation has announced plans to participate in the Summer Food Service Program. Free meals will be made available to all children 18 years of age and younger and to persons over 18 years who are enrolled in a state-approved educational program for the mentally or physically disabled. Free meals will …read more.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today that the nomination period for farmers and ranchers to serve on local Farm Service Agency county committees begins Wednesday, June 15. “Through the county committees, farmers and ranchers have a voice. Their opinions and ideas get to be heard on federal farm programs,” said FSA Administrator …read more.

INDIANAPOLIS — More Indiana families may be eligible for nutrition benefits through the Women, Infants and Children program under revised federal poverty guidelines for 2016. WIC is a supplemental nutrition program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and managed by the Indiana State Department of Health. It provides healthy foods, breastfeeding support and nutrition …read more.

AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation today announced plans to participate in the Summer Food Service Program. Free meals will be made available to all children 18 years of age and under and to persons over 18 years who are enrolled in a state-approved educational program for the mentally or physically disabled. Free meals …read more.

By Dan McGowan Writer/Reporter, Inside Indiana Business COLUMBIA CITY — A federal grant will help launch a study that could provide a clearer picture of opportunities connected to the food production and processing sectors in northeast Indiana. Funding for Wells County Revitalization Inc. will support creation of a Northeast Indiana Regional Foodshed Development Strategy. It will …read more.

INDIANAPOLIS — Whitley and Fulton counties are among eight counties the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved, Wednesday, Sept. 2, a secretarial disaster declaration. The request was made by Gov. Mike Pence, Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, and Indiana Farm Service Agency Executive Director Julia A. Wickard in a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack in August.

In a letter sent earlier this week to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, Governor Mike Pence requested a secretarial disaster declaration for 53 of Indiana’s 92 counties due to crop damage and losses caused by flooding and excessive rain since May 1 of this year. Kosciusko County was amongst the 53 counties requested …read more.

Word is expected May 8 from the regional office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, on the funding needed to break ground on the multi-million dollar Lakeland Regional Sewer District project. The district’s board members said during their regular meeting Thursday night at the North Webster Community Center they were expecting an imminent …read more.

Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Doug O’Brien announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture is making nearly $60 million in payments to 195 producers to support the production of advanced biofuel. Louis Dreyfus Agricultural Industries is one of the recipients. “These payments represent the Obama Administration’s commitment to support an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy and to help create …read more.

Hot, dry weather that has returned to Indiana is beginning to take its toll on the state’s corn and soybean crops, which Purdue Extension specialists said needed rain within days to keep them from deteriorating further. “A month ago I was very optimistic about the size of this corn crop, but now I’m less so,” …read more.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Despite recent rainfall across much of Indiana, the U.S. Drought Monitor update shows that some counties are still in “extreme drought.” Associate State Climatologist Ken Scheeringa said normal rainfall has returned to some areas, but precipitation has missed west central Indiana “over and over again.” The pattern is likely to continue …read more.