Blog Archives

It’s a movement that began in 2009 with a jackhammer and the desire to transform the land surrounding USDA Headquarters into a healthier, more sustainable landscape. Immediately support for such an effort poured in and the first People’s Garden was built here in Washington, DC. A few months’ later employees outside the Capital Beltway received a challenge from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack encouraging them to be involved in these efforts and create similar gardens at their USDA facility or within the community where they work. A movement that started with one garden was about to spread its roots and it did just that in 2010.

While many USDA Forest Service employees spend their summers working as Smokejumpers fighting wildfires in the west, they in turn spend their falls in the east working as Beetle Busters, helping the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) combat the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB).

USDA’s 2011 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 24-25, will present 25 breakout sessions, including two on energy: “Renewable Energy Policy Perspectives” and “Renewable Energy: Next Steps.”

The first session is policy oriented and will present an overview of existing policy such as implementation of the RFS2 and related issues such as the E15 and meeting future mandates.  The second speaker will focus on climate change and carbon sequestration related to the growth in renewable energy. A third speaker will discuss future directions, particularly the next farm bill and pending energy legislation. The speakers include: Paul N. Argyropoulos, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Transportation & Air Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;   Bill Hohenstein, Director, Office of Global Climate Change, OCE, USDA; and Jerry Hagstrom of The Hagstrom Report. Harry Baumes, Director, OEPNU, OCE, USDA, will moderate the session. 

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti. The earthquake devastated the already fragile and poor country, killing more than 300,000 people, and brought economic activities to a standstill leaving the capital of Port au Prince in a condition that is almost unfathomable to most Americans. In the aftermath of the disaster, the focus on the U.S. government gradually switched from response to recovery.

Glowing smiles from the residents of Philipsburg, PA adorned the scene of a ribbon cutting ceremony marking the grand opening of the new downtown location of the Holt Memorial Library on a blustery evening in January. Through $261,500 in loans and $213,500 in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act delivered through USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program, the Holt Memorial Library finally has a home to call its own.

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.

Sometimes those of us in Washington DC take ourselves too seriously.  I’ve fallen into that trap more than once.  So, when it came time to shoot our video on the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) hoop house offering, launched last year as part of the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative, we decided to have some fun.  On a beautiful late November day, I joined White House chef Sam Kass to put small hoops

Red Caboose Winery, a family owned business in Meridian, Texas, was recently selected as a recipient of a USDA Rural Energy for America Program Grant.  A $15,617 grant is being used to help lower the energy costs of running the rural winery that produces 10,000 cases of wine annually.

On February 17, 2009 President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  As a result of this Act, two Broadband groundbreaking ceremonies were held in Louisiana during the month of October.

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and USDA Rural Development State Director Clarence W. Hawkins along with staff members were on hand for the announcement of two major broadband projects in Washington and Morehouse Parish. “By bringing this technology to underserved areas of the state, we will better equip our students with the necessary tools needed for a better quality education,” said Hawkins.

Colby Creek Stables, a horse stable facility located near Ithaca, Nebraska, in Saunders County offers a number of amenities for horses and riders, including a large indoor arena, heated barn aisles, and ventilated horse stalls.  The operation requires a substantial amount of electrical power.  Thanks to USDA, the purchase price of that electricity is dropping sharply.

The owners of the stables, Mark and Tara Timm, were interested in renewable energy options to offset the power needs of their operation and to, in the near future, take it off the grid completely.  The Timms determined that a combination, or “hybrid application”, of wind and solar power would be most beneficial for their operation.