farmers

On April 10, 2024, I received a call from my dad asking me to come help him at our family farm there had been an accident. The front axle of my dad’s tractor had broken in half, and he had jumped off the tractor before it tipped over. When I arrived at the farm, my dad couldn’t walk. I called a local ambulance to transport him to a trauma center in Topeka, Kan., for evaluation of his leg. The X-rays revealed a fracture in his tibia (shinbone), which led to emergency surgery.

Did you know that women are responsible for roughly half of the world’s food production? The United Nations’ designation of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer gives the global community a chance to highlight that fact and celebrate the incredibly important role women play in ensuring global food security. At the same time, it’s an unprecedented opportunity to underscore – and to address – the myriad social and economic challenges that women in agriculture face worldwide.

On March 26, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) held the first Regional Equity Convening at Carhartt Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan in partnership with Carhartt and the State of Michigan. Regional leaders and local stakeholders from across the Midwest were invited to learn about the recommendations included in the Equity Commission Final Report that was released at the National Equity Summit in February 2023.

Black History Month is a time of celebration, education, and reflection at Black Seeds Urban Farm, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Bobby and Derravia Rich started the community garden to provide local, organic fruits, vegetables, and nuts to neighbors with little or no access to fresh, nutritious food.

Each day U.S. farmers and ranchers make thousands of management decisions, ranging from when and what to plant to weighing options for conserving their operation’s natural resources. They depend on an array of experts, research and data to inform these decisions. One of their sources is the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA’s primary private lands conservation agency.

Happy Compromise Farm + Sanctuary grows nutritious food for their local community distributed through a “free farm stand.” Though surrounded by farms in the rural Southern Tier of New York, the area is a food desert with a 16% poverty rate, a condition that often leads to higher risk for chronic health conditions and limited healthcare.

In Alaska, where most food is imported, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping local Alaskans and Alaska Natives grow their own fresh food. As a 2022 recipient of a USDA 2501 grant, the Kodiak Archipelago Leadership Institute (KALI) is expanding access to USDA programs and connecting farmers to USDA resources and technical assistance.

Uncle Jerry’s Farm, LLC.’s humble beginnings stretch back to 2015, when a health-conscious consumer, Debora Coleman, decided to devote a small patch of her land on the outskirts of Jackson, Mississippi, to the growing shiitake mushrooms. She shared the yield with friends and family members. Consequently, each year the demand for such grew. This spurred her interest in efficient production and scientific approaches to small-scale farming.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proud to support successful partnerships that pave the way for meaningful outreach and access to services for underserved communities. In Hawaii, USDA is helping multiple partners come together to provide language-appropriate outreach to Thai, Lao, Ilocano, Chinese, and other immigrant farmers. Funding is made through USDA’s Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program, also known as the 2501 Program.

Every year, thousands of farmers, ranchers, and businesses grow and produce organic products – and all these operations are audited by qualified organic inspectors. Organic inspectors visit fields, pastures, or processing plants to conduct annual reviews where they meet with farmers and processors, ask questions, and observe processes. Annual inspections by qualified inspectors strengthen consumer trust in the USDA organic seal and ensure families are getting what they paid for when they choose to buy organic.