research and science

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the U.S. Department of Agriculture blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the agency’s rich science and research portfolio.

I had it for dinner last night, and I'm sure more than a few of you did as well. For billions of people around the world, rice is the cornerstone of their diet. When so many people depend upon a particular crop it becomes even more important to protect it, especially from problems we can’t control, like the weather. Researchers have worked for years to breed rice that can withstand unpredictable flooding, and recently have they been successful.

The African-American farmer is a rare breed in the United States, and their numbers have declined dramatically over the past few decades.  This trend, particularly, is due to the fact that young people are not entering the field to replace an increasingly aging population.  In Florida, the average farmer’s age is 58.4, and approximately 45 percent of the farms in Florida are operated by farmers between 25 and 54 years of age.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the U.S. Department of Agriculture blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the agency’s rich science and research portfolio.

Rural America is often portrayed in Hollywood as an idyllic place where kids can run free, ride their bikes and pick fresh food out of gardens. The reality is that rural communities face challenges that are different than those experienced in urban areas – especially challenges that contribute to rising childhood obesity levels among rural youth. Despite a perception of abundant resources, including land for growing food and active recreation, rural children face a lack of access to and availability of fresh and nutritious foods, and the distances between destinations makes it difficult to walk or bike and participate in structured and unstructured physical activity programs.

As the Economic Research Service celebrates its 50^th Anniversary this year and looks back over the decades, the legacy of Senior Demographer Calvin Beale stands out due to the 55-plus-year length of his service at USDA and the impact of his work.

President Obama stressed the importance of innovation in his State of the Union address – and reminded us, “We do big things.”  Wes Jackson, who lent USDA the banner pictured here, founded The Land Institute around the “big idea” of using nature as a model for agriculture, including perennial grain crops whose deep roots hold soil in place and take up water and nutrients year-round, rather than the more typical annual grains that produce a big harvest and then die each year.  But perennial grains generally lack big seeds and high yields, and it has been difficult to breed grains that are both perennial and high-yielding.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the U.S. Department of Agriculture blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the agency’s rich science and research portfolio.

Japanese beetles are tough hombres in the bug world, ripping and chomping their way through more than 300 plant species and nearly 80 plant families.  Farmers and ornamental plant growers spend more than $450 million annually on control measures and replacements for plants destroyed by the beetle, which is by far the most destructive pest of ornamental and turf plants in the eastern United States.

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.

This year’s weather has presented some challenges for Florida’s citrus growers. In December, sub-freezing temperatures hit the citrus-growing region in the state, threatening this year’s citrus crops, which account for more than half of all citrus production in the United States.

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 Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps extended a helping hand to a nation devastated by the Dust Bowl and gripped by the Great Depression.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) proudly serves as the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. What some may not realize is that NASS provides statistical information in a variety of formats beyond the traditional paper report, which dates back more than a century.

Just yesterday, NASS launched a new geospatial data service called CropScape. Operated by my team in NASS’s Research and Development Division, CropScape significantly eases users’ access to agricultural geospatial satellite products. By applying the best practices in science and technology, this service links space and agriculture.

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.

For nearly 60 years, a relentless Asian insect with a silly-sounding name--the hemlock woolly adelgid, or HWA--has chomped a deadly swath through 17 northeastern states, portions of Canada and the Appalachian Mountains, literally sucking the life out of native hemlock trees.