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Small businesses are the backbone of this country. They employ nearly half of the workers in rural America and are an integral part of the American economy. Today, Congress will vote on whether or not to repeal this new law, just as its benefits are beginning to reach rural Americans. Repeal of the...

Recent news tells us that the American economy is continuing to move in the right direction, creating private sector jobs for twelve months in a row. The health care law signed by President Obama last year, the Affordable Care Act, has done its part to increase economic certainty in rural America by...

This fall USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) successfully completed its final round of grant awards under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). In the last year and a half, we’ve done more to bridge the digital divide for rural Americans than many ever thought possible. The...

Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to describe the way I felt on the first day of my internship with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. There was so much to learn—program acronyms, database information, how to do a field check…But I was told by my co-workers that I would learn fast. And two...

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 USDA’s rich science and research portfolio. 1935: It was the year when baseball legend Babe Ruth hung up his spikes, and New Deal programs like the Works Progress...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 enabled USDA Rural Development to help more than 80,000 families in rural communities secure safe, decent, affordable homes. In the depths of the recession in early 2009, new home construction and private sector mortgage lending virtually ground to...

We here at USDA have been working on improving insurance coverage for America’s farmers and ranchers. In particular, we have been working hard to improve insurance coverage for dairy producers. In recent years, dairy farmers across the country faced a crisis and thousands considered bankruptcy. One...

Recent estimates indicate only nine percent of family farm income comes from farming and fewer than half of our nation’s farmers and ranchers list farming as their primary occupation.

Julia Reyna was in need of assistance to repair her roof, replace the front and back doors, and replace falling sheetrock. She manages her bills with monthly income from Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and SNAP (food assistance) however this did not provide her with enough income to...

Yesterday, an ABC Good Morning America (GMA) crew visited the Academy for Global Citizenship in Chicago. Why was GMA at a small neighborhood school on the Second City’s southwest side on a frosty day in January? To help underscore the importance of Agriculture Secretary Vilsack’s recent announcement...