USDA Blog

To celebrate its 13 th anniversary this year, the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, Montana, has gone to the dog – one dog in particular that served as an integral part of the Lewis & Clark expedition more than 200 years ago. The Center historically interprets the importance and...

In a scientific achievement that is important in planning for future climate scenarios, and for protecting some endangered animal species, U.S. Forest Service research geneticist Bryce Richardson and research ecologist Michael Schwartz, have sequenced more than 40 billion base pairs of DNA from 130...

After a great event yesterday morning on the Obama Administration’s efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, Secretary Vilsack headed to RFD-TV for a live show titled, “Homegrown Energy, Fueling America’s Future.” With an in-studio audience of about 275 people and others watching live, the...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Have you cast your vote? The selection period for the Popular Choice Award in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition will close soon, so it’s time to make your voice heard. The First Lady and the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched the...

Cross posted from the White House blog: Twenty business leaders from Mexico, Missouri, joined me at the Mid America Brick plant recently for the first White House Business Council Roundtable meeting in Missouri. President Obama asked me, along with other senior Administration officials, to...

I was honored to accompany Governor Lincoln Chafee at the Rhode Island Agriculture Day held at the Statehouse in Providence. In my remarks to farmers, agriculture organizations, legislators, and government officials, I emphasized the Obama Administration’s commitment to Rural America, and...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: There’s a lot going on in the Church Hill North neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia! For three years, the congregation at 31 st Street Baptist Church has been growing fresh vegetables in an urban garden behind their church. More recently, they launched a...

USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl Cook and Thomas Williams, Rural Development Pennsylvania State Director recently conducted a Small Business Council meeting at the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, followed by a visit to Molnar Farms, a local Rural Energy for America Program...

A bout of flooding and tornadoes throughout parts of the Southeast have left thousands of people in need. Several USDA agencies have been working for weeks with state and local officials, as well as individuals, businesses, farmers and ranchers, as they begin the process of helping to get people...

The state of Mississippi, recently hit with back-to-back disasters in the forms of record-intensity tornadoes in the eastern portion of the state and devastating floods in the Mississippi River Delta, was visited by two USDA under secretaries on Thursday. USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development...