News

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), refocusing its core operations to better align with its founding mission of supporting American farming, ranching, and forestry. All critical functions of USDA will continue uninterrupted.

The reorganization consists of 4 pillars:

• Ensure the size of USDA’s workforce aligns with available financial resources and agricultural priorities.
• Bring USDA closer to its customers.
• Eliminate management layers and bureaucracy.
• Consolidate redundant support functions.

To bring USDA closer to the people it serves while also providing a more affordable cost of living for USDA employees, USDA has developed a phased plan to relocate much of its Agency headquarters and National Capital Region staff out of the Washington, D.C., area to 5 hub locations:

• Raleigh, North Carolina
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Fort Collins, Colorado
• Salt Lake City, Utah

USDA will vacate and return to the General Services Administration the South Building, Braddock Place, and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, and revisit utilization and functions in the USDA Whitten Building, Yates Building, and the National Agricultural Library. 

Source: USDA Press Releases, No. 0178.25 (July 24, 2025)

USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) reports are market access reports that provide technical specifications for food and agricultural imports, including live animals and their genetics.

Ecuador FAIRS Country Report Annual (Report No. EC2025-0006)

Costa Rica FAIRS Country Report Annual (Report No. CS2025-0016)

Costa Rica FAIRS Export Certificate Report Annual (Report No. CS2025-0017)

Source: USDA-FAS Global Agricultural Information Network

USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is accepting applications for its upcoming agribusiness trade mission to Mexico City, Mexico, scheduled for November 3–6, 2025. U.S. exporters interested in participating in exploring trade opportunities in Mexico’s dynamic agricultural market must apply by Thursday, July 31, 2025.

Mexico was the largest export market for U.S. agricultural products in 2024, with sales totaling more than $30 billion, supporting approximately 190,000 U.S. jobs. Agricultural trade between the United States and Mexico under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) reached nearly $79 billion in 2024 and has shown consistent growth over the last decade.

During the trade mission, U.S. agribusiness representatives will connect directly with buyers from Mexico City and surrounding regions through business-to-business meetings, market briefings, site visits, and networking events led by USDA-FAS staff and regional experts.

For more information or to apply, visit fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-missions/mexico-november-2025.

Source: USDA-FAS Newsroom, News Release (July 10, 2025)

In 2024, Nigeria created the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development to unlock potential in the country’s vast but underdeveloped livestock sector. The Ministry’s leadership has focused on increasing commercial productivity, which may lead to more interest in U.S. live animal, genetics, and animal feed product exports. In December 2024, the United States signed 7 animal health export protocols with Nigeria, creating more opportunities to grow exports given the Ministry’s focus on commercial development, including improving dairy yields, beef production, and animal feed availability.

Source: USDA-FAS Global Agricultural Information Network (Report No. NI2025-0011)

China is one of the biggest importers of American breeding pigs and other livestock genetic material such as cattle semen. These lucrative niche export markets had been growing, but have dried up since the start of the U.S.-China trade war.

Source: Dairy Herd Management, News, Dairy Production, May 22, 2025

USDA, led by its Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, finalized new export health certificates for several animal products in 3 West African countries: Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea (Conakry).  Of interest to USLGE members is that Guinea (Conakry) now accepts live small ruminants, small ruminant semen, and small ruminant embryos from the United States. USDA-FAS GAIN Report SG2025-0007 contains links to relevant health certificates.

Source: USDA-FAS Global Agricultural Information Network (Report No. SG2025-0007)