Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
DJIA	15,303.10	+8.60	0.06%
S&P 500	1,646.67	-3.84	-0.23%
Nasdaq	3,459.14	-0.27	-0.01%

Ticker

Volume

Price

Price Delta

DJIA

15,303.10

+8.60

0.06%

S&P 500

1,646.67

-3.84

-0.23%

Nasdaq

3,459.14

-0.27

-0.01%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
STOXX 50	2,764.29	-12.49	-0.45%
FTSE 100	6,654.34	-42.45	-0.63%
DAX	8,305.32	-46.66	-0.56%

Ticker

Volume

Price

Price Delta

STOXX 50

2,764.29

-12.49

-0.45%

FTSE 100

6,654.34

-42.45

-0.63%

DAX

8,305.32

-46.66

-0.56%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
Nikkei	14,612.50	+128.47	0.89%
Hang Seng	22,618.70	-51.01	-0.23%
S&P/ASX 200	4,983.50	-78.95	-1.56%

Ticker

Volume

Price

Price Delta

Nikkei

14,612.50

+128.47

0.89%

Hang Seng

22,618.70

-51.01

-0.23%

S&P/ASX 200

4,983.50

-78.95

-1.56%

USDA Budget Requires Cuts Because of Deficit, Vilsack Says

By Alan Bjerga - 2012-02-17T15:13:39Z

The federal budget deficit makes belt-tightening necessary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

“We’ve had to take a close look at the way we do business with less money, a smaller staff, and more complex programs,” Vilsack said today in testimony prepared for the House Appropriations Committee panel charged with setting spending for the department.

U.S. Department of Agriculture spending would rise 2.5 percent to $154.5 billion in the year starting Oct. 1 before crop-subsidy cuts kick in, beginning long-term reductions in farmer aid, according to the budget President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Feb. 13.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Bjerga in Washington at abjerga@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net

Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.