USDA Blog

While Veterans Day is an occasion set aside to recognize present and past service, it is nearly impossible to separate memories of lost comrades. We celebrate the living, reflect solemnly on generations now fading, and recall others whose voices are forever silent.

Everyone is busy these days, but there’s no busy like holiday busy. Now is the time to start making your plans so that your Thanksgiving dinner will be safe and stress-free.

“You can’t have a forest without a foundation of quality soil,” said Debbie Page-Dumroese, a soil scientist for the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Moscow, Idaho. That’s the lesson learned when hundreds of ponderosa pines were planted on rocky streambanks in national forests...

Sweet potatoes, which are native to the Americas, sustained our founding pioneers with beneficial nutrients like beta carotene, calcium, fiber, and a host of vitamins. No wonder it’s a holiday favorite, especially during Thanksgiving. But what makes a good sweet potato?

2018 was another record year of hurricanes and fires, which have inflicted huge economic losses to timber landowners as well as homeowners with landscape trees.

Many farmers till during the fall. This year, we encourage you not to. Leave it be, let it grow. Save time, money and improve your soil’s health by joining the farmers who observe “No-Till November.”

The summer of 2015 was exceptionally hot and dry in northern Idaho. Fuel moistures had dropped to alarming levels, and when a series of lightning storms moved across the region in early August, hundreds of fires flared up. A group of fast-moving and intense fires, which eventually became known as...

For the past decade and a half, ERS has been highlighting its research through its magazine, Amber Waves. As technology has evolved, so has Amber Waves, but the focus on bringing ERS’s latest agriculture and food research to readers in an engaging and user-friendly format has remained constant. In...

After returning home from a year-long military tour of duty in Iraq, Matthew Anglin worked as a paramedic for four years. However, he soon realized that he wanted to spend more quality time at home with his wife, Holly, and their children. This desire led Anglin and his wife to venture into farming...

On August 10 of this year, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue proclaimed (PDF, 1.3 MB) October 24 through 31 to be National Bat Week. The Secretary’s proclamation was followed by proclamations from the governors of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Montana, and South Carolina.