USDA Blog

The Administrator for USDA’s Rural Business and Cooperative Programs, Judy Canales was in Louisiana recently to tour Game Equipment, a Rural Development –funded project in Donaldsonville. Louisiana Rural Development State Director, Clarence W. Hawkins; Jeff Jobe, Regional Coordinator of USDA...

Prop Canyon Dam was built in 1960 in the village of Bluewater, New Mexico by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Lava Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Bluewater Toltec Irrigation District. The earthen structure was erected to protect crops, residents and...

Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited Rhode Island last Friday to celebrate the preservation of Ferolbink Farm, one of the State’s most iconic coastal farms. The event highlighted the success of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, which...

Support local farmers, strengthen rural communities, promote healthy eating, and protect natural resources…these goals of our Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative find a lot of support in the results of a major new scientific study by the National Research Council, Toward Sustainable...

I recently traveled to the Texas State capitol of Austin for a speaking engagement in the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) “3E’s of Healthy Living 2010 FND Staff Conference.” Prior to the event I was given the opportunity to tour Decker Elementary, a recipient of American Recovery and...

As the end of a very successful Federal fiscal year approaches, Mississippi Rural Development State Director Trina N. George and her senior staff held a briefing for staff members for offices of Mississippi's Congressional delegation in the offices of USDA Rural Development in Jackson.

I recently visited Lansdowne Middle School in Baltimore, Maryland to see new equipment the school purchased with American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) grant money. I was delighted to hear Jerrisa Carter, Maryland’s Area Regional Food Service Director, say their new convection oven...

USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan joined Senator Jack Reed and North Tiverton, Rhode Island Fire District Moderator James Donnelly on Friday, September 10 to cut the celebratory, ceremonial ribbon that was wrapped around the towns’ new pump station.

USDA Rural Utilities Administrator Jonathan Adelstein visited Western Kentucky recently to announce the start of one of the largest broadband projects in the country.

Providing our children safe and nutritious meals at school is a key priority for the Obama Administration. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) helped meet this goal through its $100 million investment in local school systems to enhance the nutritional quality of school meals...