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The Bangladesh government has lifted its fumigation requirement on U.S. cotton imports, which has been in effect for nearly 50 years.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced plans to roll out $3.7 billion in Emergency Relief Program (ERP) and Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) assistance to crop and livestock producers who sustained losses due to a qualifying natural disaster event in calendar year 2022. USDA is sharing early information to allow producers time to gather documents in advance of program delivery. Through distribution of remaining funds, USDA is also concluding the 2021 ELRP program by sending payments in the amount of 20% of the initial ELRP payment to all existing recipients.

Since 2006, Cotton Incor-porated’s Blue Jeans Go Green program has collected denim (made from cotton) so it can be recycled back to its original fiber state and transformed into something new. To date, the program has diverted 2,100-plus tons of denim from landfills and recycled more than 4 million pieces of denim.

A Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP) project has been selected to target conservation easement and restoration in the Texas playa lakes of the Panhandle and South Plains regions for $1.5 million in funding. Ducks Unlimited, in partnership with the Playa Lakes Joint Venture and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, proposed this project and will contribute funding to work with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in a joint effort with landowners to acquire easements and restore critical functions and values to historically agricultural wetlands.