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When we launched the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, I asked each agency to take a realistic look at their programs for opportunities to better support farmers trying to access local and regional markets. Since then, we have been excited to be able to share details and concrete examples...

A new community center financed through USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities program was the location of a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Canton, Mississippi last week.

If you’re searching for positive stories among all the recent talk of economic struggles and budget deficits, look no further than Spring Valley, Minn. USDA Rural Development State Director Colleen Landkamer and other officials recently visited the community of 2,500 in southeastern Minnesota to...

Lying in the heart of Mid-America and the historical crossroads of two US highways, Macon, Missouri is a city with a rich cultural heritage and strong vision for the future. Macon offers the amenities of a small friendly city with the advantages of a growing city. History acknowledges the fact that...

Recently, I joined USDA, Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl Cook, employees of The Progress Fund, and several of their loan recipients for a funding announcement under Rural Development’s Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP). RMAP was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill and...

With the thoughts of spring planting on their minds, over 200 farm producers and local agricultural staff discussed the many ways USDA can strengthen the partnership between small farmers and the USDA agencies that serve them. Eleven different USDA agencies converged earlier this month at the...

Congratulations were in order for fourteen Cache Valley families in Utah who have a place to call their own after building their own homes through the Self Help Program (MSHP) sponsored by USDA Rural Development. Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation in Logan runs the program that helps put...

As Americans struggle to feed their families during these tough economic times, communities are relying on food banks to provide nutritional meals for disadvantaged households. For the northern California community of Mendocino County, residents in need are finding help in the Fort Bragg Food Bank...

As President Obama challenges Americans to win the future, we at USDA are implementing ways to do so by helping tribal communities across the country out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build our global competition. Starting in rural America, but more specifically within tribal communities, we see an...

Several years ago, community members in Bemidji, Minn. realized the need for a dental health facility that would serve underprivileged and at-risk families. In December of 2008, that realization became reality when the doors of the Northern Access Dental Center opened to the public. The Northern...