USDA Blog

Hard to believe 2019 is almost over. With New Year's Eve fast approaching, it's that time of year when many of us take a moment to reflect on all the things we accomplished during the year.

Sometimes food scraps can turn into gold. Tara McHugh, of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), has overseen this alchemy as director of ARS’s Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California. Over the course of her career, McHugh has investigated ways to take food-processing waste and...

Summer is fading, and the fall season will soon be bringing crisp air and colorful leaves, and creatively carved pumpkins will be sitting on the front steps of neighborhood houses. Pumpkins—fall wouldn’t be quite the same without them—but what do you really know about them?

This week is World Antibiotic Awareness Week and USDA’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS) remains committed to using a “One Health” approach in conducting research that will identify solutions to help prolong the usefulness of a very precious resource—antibiotics. For example, ARS research includes...

Every day, some 2,000 ARS scientists go to work at over 90 research locations across the United States and abroad. Their job? To deliver scientific and innovative solutions to agricultural challenges affecting our Nation. As part of that job, ARS scientists frequently collaborate with research...

Have you ever considered what it takes to create the perfect picnic beyond the hamburgers, hot dogs, and iced tea? Most often, we include wholesome fruit and veggies to create the perfect side items or sweet treats. Whether its fresh corn-on-the-cob or plump, juicy strawberries on the shortcake...

ARS developed the Beltsville Small White turkey in response to consumer demand. It dominated the market and transformed how Americans think of Thanksgiving. (ARS photo)

Everyone wants healthy, thriving honey bee colonies. One-third of the food we eat requires pollinators, and commercial beekeepers transport honey bees hundreds of miles each year to pollinate almond trees and other crops.

Uncontrolled bleeding is the main cause of preventable death in people who experience traumatic injury. This can happen in 5 to 10 minutes if severe blood loss from the injury site isn’t slowed or stopped. Now, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana, have helped...

At Halloween, people revel in ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. Not all are in books or movies, though. There are plenty of creepy critters doing downright scary things every day in your own backyard.