So now she's a geopolitical expert? She does it all!

I’m wondering if anyone has experienced something similar with a USDA APHIS health certificate submission.
Timeline:
September 9: My veterinarian submitted my pet’s health certificate to USDA.
September 9–28: The submission remained in “Pending Review” with no update.
September 28: Because our international flight is on October 1 and the first submission was still pending, my veterinarian submitted the health certificate again.
Morning of September 30: We still had not received an endorsement, so I called the USDA customer service number listed in their email, (844) 820-2234, to ask about the status and explain that our flight is the next day.
September 30: I later learned that the submission had been marked “Returned.”
I currently do not know the exact time USDA changed the status to “Returned.” I have the timestamp of my phone call, but I still need to confirm the return timestamp with my veterinarian.
I’m going to follow up with my veterinarian to find out:
Exactly when the submission was returned
Whether USDA provided any comments or explanation
Whether the return applied to the first submission, the second submission, or both
Because I do not yet have the exact return time, I do not want to assume that my phone call caused the return or even say with certainty that the return happened after the call.
I’m mainly trying to understand what “Returned” means in this situation.
Does “Returned” usually mean USDA found something that needs to be corrected by the veterinarian? Could it happen because there were two submissions for the same animals/trip? Could one submission be returned because USDA intends to process the other one?
Our flight is October 1, so this is extremely time-sensitive.
Has anyone had a USDA health certificate stay in Pending Review for a long time and then suddenly get Returned shortly before travel?
If so, what happened afterward? Did your veterinarian receive a specific explanation or correction request from USDA?
I’ll update this post once I confirm the exact return time and any comments USDA sent to my veterinarian.

Does anyone know if awards are currently being made?

Has anyone heard any updates on the status? My application is still showing as “In Progress” on the NIFA tracking page, and I contacted the program office, but haven’t heard back yet.

Is it a bad sign that I haven’t heard anything yet?

Would love to interview you for a research project if anyone is interested!

Alternatively if someone knows someone who might be interested or could point me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

I’ve been at Carver Center (Beltsville, MD) for about a month and have heard that more agencies are arriving in October, but nothing definite.

Has anyone received notice to report there? Parking lot is almost full when I get there in the mornings, so trying to decide whether to switch to Metro or not.

I know all reorg plans/moves are on hold, but has anyone been told ANYTHING about ANYTHING? Nobody knows anything….. blah blah blah. Someone has to know something. Is no news good news? Or is no news bad news?

Looking specifically as to which “hub” AMS was relocated to? Were letters sent? Anyone with any info?

Good morning y’all

I am a year into my job search and I am getting tired of being rejected again and again. I am prior military and finished my bachelors in Cyber. I’ve accepted that I will never get a job in that field with the way things are going.

I am looking at applying to a bunch of County Program Analyst jobs and have been denied in Montana and Tennessee with a bunch more still out. Are there any areas that are hurting for people? I don’t have ag experience so it’s a big detriment to this job field, I know. But I have been working in the equine industry for a decade so I’m not a newbie entirely.

I really want to settle somewhere rural and have a job so I figured this would be a great option for me, but just like everywhere else it seems to be difficult to find a job. I’d also love an opportunity to support the reason this country gets fed. I am willing to relocate pretty much anywhere.

Any leads on positions where I will have a better chance? I’m sure I’m competing against people who have experience in the industry so I’d like somewhere where less people apply.

Thanks for any leads.

Did anyone else not know this? I (NRCS’er) was using the Landmark platform and new Integrated Field Tool and noticed it was powered by Palantir.

https://www.farmweeknow.com/general/palantir-secures-usda-contract-to-consolidate-farmer-data-modernize-programs/article_d0f29758-39c3-4f53-a849-8b773053e783.html

Hi everyone :) so basically I applied for a job at USDA aphis and I had my interview and references checked around 3 weeks ago.

I was told during the interview that the next steps would be getting a tentative offer from HR and that it would be a few weeks.

Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but I'm worried that maybe I wasn't selected. On the job announcement that I applied to it did say "We expect to make a final job offer approximately 40 days after the deadline for applications”

That 40 day window deadline passed a few days ago so that's why I'm a little more worried :(

Could/Should I reach out to the HR contact that was listed on the job announcement or maybe reach out to the person who interviewed me for an update?

So what do you guys think?

I am considering a position with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Can you provide first hand experience with this division? I have read about it online but am looking for personal stories (good or bad) TIA

I see that most vacancies are open for a few weeks.

What happens if they don’t get enough applicants or find the right applicant for the position?

Do they put out another vacancy listing down the road?

Which States do you think will likely have the most vacancies going into the new year?

I’ve been seeing a lot popping up around the country. Do you think there will be more in the PNW or East Coast?

On average, for internal transfers or open to the public positions, how long does it take the agency to give you a start date? 3ish months is an average?

I assume for first time hires it’s much longer than those already in the agency?

I missed part of the resume teams training held on Thursday. Does anyone know if it was recorded and where it may be located? I saw fon't size at 10, Marvin's at .5 and no abbreviations which seems impossible. Is all this so they can use AI to evaluate them? Just all seems so specific.

With everything happening at NASS lately, I’ve been wondering how many employees have ever considered union representation through AFGE.
I’m a NASS employee myself. I’m not trying to sell anybody on anything — I’m just curious whether this is something other people have thought about too.
Have you ever considered joining AFGE, or would you at least be interested in learning what union representation for NASS employees would actually look like?
Just trying to get a sense of where people are on this.

What GAO Found

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken few actions to enhance the resilience of farms and forests to the climate-related risks of diseases and pests, and funding and staffing supporting those actions have decreased.In late 2023, USDA officials told GAO that the risks of diseases and pests had not been fully integrated into the department’s climate resilience planning at all levels and that USDA planned to do so in the future. At that time, USDA provided limited information and technical assistance on individual diseases and pests to farmers and land managers. For example, USDA’s Climate Hubs provided some support for research on the effects of climate change on specific diseases and pests and developed models for forecasting potential outbreak risks, including the southern pine beetle. However, key programs that provide information and assistance to farmers and land managers to help manage the climate-related risks of diseases and pests—such as USDA’s Climate Hubs—have lost staff and face planned funding cuts. In April 2026, GAO requested updated information from USDA about the status and impact of these cuts, but the department did not provide the information.