USDA Blog

The Forest Service played an integral role with USDA and DOI being selected as recipients of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Award for Federal Preserve America Accomplishment. On Sept. 16, both Departments were recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. for their outstanding...

We recently marked the final day of Feds Feed Families Campaign. José Otero-García, USDA Rural Development State Director for Puerto Rico, led the efforts of the Campaign that included the help from our sister Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). We collected 500 pounds of food...

In the 14 th century the Hisat’sinom people, ancestors of the Hopis, found themselves on the sandy slopes of a rich flood plain while on their migration north. This beautiful location in the Little Colorado River Valley was so compelling that the people stayed and established a community they called...

For most of its 130-year existence, the city of Adrian, Minn., has had the services of a hometown pharmacist. That is, until the local pharmacy was forced to close in 2008.

I am winding through rural roads in extreme northwest Missouri, away from any large city, in the middle of the country, basically out in the middle of nowhere as some would say, and I am thinking about the investment Rural Development is making; thinking about the amount of money we have provided to...

Imagine an open field of vegetables and greens, exposed to the sun and the wind on the outskirts of your town. Now imagine a row of trees sheltering the crops from hot dry winds and producing more marketable melons than in open fields; more snap beans earlier and later in the season when prices are...

USDA Rural Development officials joined Greg Bell, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah recently at the 2010 Native American Summit held in Ogden. This historic gathering provided an opportunity to meet with Utah’s tribal Leaders, and explore the means available for USDA to become a more...

Jim Joens remembers planting crops on the Minnesota farm where he grew up as early as 1973, when he was 14 years old. Even then he knew that farming was what he wanted to be doing, and he’s been doing it ever since.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA's rich science and research portfolio. As adults, we have heard for years about the value of adding fish to our diets. But have you ever stopped to consider...

I recently joined David Fink, at his Heidel Hollow Farm in Germansville. The family-owned, 1600 crop acre hay farm was awarded two USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants totaling $231,230. The grants will be used toward a solar energy project that will provide approximately 252,869 KW...