2019

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) recently released the results from the 2017 Census of Agriculture (COA). Unlike the annual estimating program, which estimates acreage, yield, production, price and value on major commodities, the COA takes a look at the people who are our farmers and ranchers and accounts for minor commodities produced across the Grand Canyon State.

Earlier this week, I was honored to meet with members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters here at USDA headquarters. These women and men, many with decades of broadcasting and farm experience, are among the familiar voices, faces and bylines we hear and see each day through radio, television, newsletters, and social media across America.

It’s a new year at USDA, at least for those of us forecasting agricultural commodity markets. Every May, the World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) in the Office of the Chief Economist releases USDA’s initial projections of the markets for the crops and livestock that will be produced and harvested in the new crop year. WAOB develops USDA’s official forecasts by coordinating Interagency Commodity Estimates Committees (ICECs) to compile the latest and most comprehensive information and intelligence available from across USDA agencies. On May 10, USDA released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report with these estimates for the 2019/20 crop year. The report also includes updated information on the 2018/19 and previous marketing years, but the early assessment of the “new crop” is a focal point of the May report.

You want to ensure your tax dollars are used properly. So does FNS. That is why we are continually working to improve federal administration and oversight of our programs. We undertake these efforts in order to ensure that resources are spent properly, effectively, efficiently, and as intended. When we learn of potential problems, we move quickly to act on what we learn. We did just that for some delivery route vendors whose behaviors raised suspicion.

Forest Service law enforcement officers Nicholas Scholz and Patrick Legg helped find the needle in a 2 million-acre haystack.

The needle was a 5-month-old infant, and the haystack is the Lolo National Forest in Montana. Last week, the officers were each honored as an Unsung Hero for their work in helping to find the infant who many feared might be dead after a man reported he had wrecked his car with his girlfriend’s son inside. At one point, the man even said he had killed, then buried the baby.

On any sunny day in Faulkner County, Arkansas, you will find people boating, swimming, and camping at Lake Bennett in Wooley Hollow State Park. This 40-acre lake was named after Dr. Hugh Hammond Bennett, the first chief of USDA’s Soil Conservation Service, today known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

In 2017, consumers in the United States spent $1.2 trillion on U.S.-produced food. Nearly all food starts out on a farm, but did you ever wonder how the value added from processing, packaging, transporting, and marketing agricultural food products factors into the costs?

Ensuring access to nutritious food is critically important when emergencies and disasters happen. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is prepared to work with states and with other federal agencies to support both immediate response, and longer-term recovery efforts.

Fire seasons have lengthened so much that we now use the term fire year, firefighting costs are breaking new records, and loss of life and property are part of an alarming new pattern. The ability to mitigate these impacts with community collaboration is critically important.

Warmer weather in many parts of the country means more opportunities for outdoor activities. Whether it’s a picnic, backyard barbecue, or even an intimate wedding ceremony, no one wants to feel the painful sting of the red imported fire ant.