USDA Blog

Two weeks ago Secretary Vilsack took a moment to share some of his thoughts about USDA’s sad history on civil rights and the progress we have made to put it behind us. I was not surprised to see the outpouring of thoughts and comments that blog post inspired, including many from USDA employees.

The excitement was readily apparent when Rural Development Illinois State Director Colleen Callahan and Governor Pat Quinn announced Aug. 31 that 66,000 Cellular One customers in 11 east central Illinois counties would be getting high speed Internet service.

Ending childhood obesity within a generation is the central goal of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative. We know achieving this goal requires all of us to work together - parents, teachers, schools, chefs, community leaders, Federal, State and local elected officials and our children - there’s a...

While touring the facilities of McKechnie Vehicle Components in Kentucky last month, USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Programs Administrator Judy Canales got up close and personal with many of the company’s employees whose jobs were saved thanks to assistance from Rural Development and the...

The residents of the recently opened Lakeview Terrace Senior Living Community in Boulder City, Nevada, were delighted late last month, to share their opinions of their new home with special guests Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Senator Harry Reid, and Congresswoman Dina Titus, who were...

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 the USDA's rich science and research portfolio. When I was growing up on the farm in South Carolina, my family used a very simple method of estimating our production...

USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced the availability of nearly $5 million in funds for community-based food and agriculture projects through the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFP). Applications should: Meet the needs of low-income people by...

This story has three parts. Read Part 1 here. Read Part 2 here. For an hour or so, that’s how it went: on one side of the roof, I smoked the bees and removed capped frames, volunteers ran the capped frames over to the extractor on the other side of the roof, and the extractor team spun the honey out...

Labor Day is the last “hurrah”—as in, “Hurrah! The hottest January-July period on record worldwide is at an end.” This is documented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but most people felt the heat without official confirmation. Labor Day is an official holiday dedicated to...

The Miner County Development Corporation (MCDC) in Howard, South Dakota, broke ground recently on a new learning center complex with the assistance from the American Recovery Reinvestment Act ( Recovery Act). Funding was provided through a USDA Rural Development Business & Industry Loan in the...