USDA Undersecretary Seeks Producer Feedback; Eastern WA Wildfires Burn 300K+ Acres

USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordice just wrapped up three days in Colorado meeting with farmers and ranchers across all production areas to discuss USDA programs and hear directly from producers. The visits included a series of roundtables held in partnership with agriculture and commodity groups, “it is literally an open forum for folks with all kinds of interests, growing all kinds of different crops, raising livestock, for them to have direct dialog with us about things that that things that we probably need to know. And when we do our travels outside of Washington D.C. Those are are the most valuable interactions that we can have.

Fordyce says some programs are locked in by congressional statute and cannot be altered administratively, but others carry discretionary flexibility where producer feedback can lead to real changes.

In the situations where we do have, you know, some discretionary space to to change the way that we are implementing those programs, and they make sense. You know, we're going to do that.

Fordyce said that he has visited other states and plans to visit more states to gain more program feedback. And drought conditions continue to fuel destructive wildfires across the country.

With Eastern Washington now facing three major fires that have burned more than 300,000 acres. Governor Bob Ferguson has declared a federal state of emergency.