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The holidays are a festive time. Putting up a Christmas tree, wreath, and ornaments may be part of your tradition. But, look twice before you acquire fresh plant material for your seasonal décor this year, because there may be something lurking inside. Invasive plant pests and diseases are talented hitchhikers. They may hitch a ride on your living Christmas tree, wreath, untreated firewood, or handmade ornaments. And, they aren’t just unwelcome guests—these pests threaten local ecosystems and agriculture when introduced to new places.

Recently, the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting (SSWSF) Program published new 30-year hydroclimatic normal values or “normals” for snowpack and precipitation at western U.S. monitoring stations. This information serves as a benchmark for assessing water supply conditions and is used by producers, natural resource managers and the research community.

Through a unique collaboration with USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, food leftovers from six district schools in Prince William County, Virginia, are now being sorted, bagged, and collected before being mixed with organic yard waste and processed into compost at the county’s recycling center. In the first six weeks of the program, almost eight tons of food scraps have been recycled rather than buried in the county landfill.

USDA has a proven track record of protecting U.S. farmers from foreign animal and plant pests and diseases.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the aviation sector constitute 2.5 percent of global emissions. One way to reduce this carbon footprint is to replace conventional aviation fuel (obtained by refining crude oil) with aviation fuel derived from sustainably produced biomass feedstocks.

The holidays are a time to celebrate with family and friends. Often, those celebrations involve sharing a meal together. With Thanksgiving and the winter holidays here, it is a great time to start looking for recipe ideas! These five, healthy holiday recipes from Nutrition.gov combine vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and other nutritious ingredients in one delicious dish:

Refugee and immigrant farmers newly arrived in Vermont are getting help from USDA to continue their agrarian traditions and learn about Vermont soils and growing conditions.

We see the headlines about natural disasters all the time – hurricanes in the South, wildfires in the West, flooding, tornadoes, and the list goes on. But do we stop to think about how those natural disasters affect animals, especially those housed in zoos, sanctuaries, and other licensed facilities? In addition to preparing themselves and their families for various emergencies, Animal Welfare Act licensees must also consider how to protect the welfare of all of their animals when the unexpected happens.

At USDA, economics is a helping science. Two recent contributions of USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) highlight how economic research help USDA form policies.

Buzby: What should people know about USDA’s Economic Research Service?