Agribusiness

For basketball great Ralph Sampson, farming is his new game of choice. The new and beginning farmer is looking to resurrect his family’s farm and spur new economic growth on the ancestral land.

Andy and Valerie Cole are the husband and wife team who own Andy’s Agway in rural Dayton, Maine. It’s an impressive operation - in no small part because the Coles still run their agricultural business on the fundamental values their family began with over a century ago.

Historically black colleges and universities, particularly the “1890 land-grant universities (LGUs),” have conducted groundbreaking studies to further advance agricultural research in this country, such as eradicating peanut allergens and food borne illnesses. Now, they’re making significant impacts...

Rivers, roads and rails—the shortest distance between two points is not always a straight line. Finding the best path forward can be difficult as city traffic gets worse each year, frustrating commuters and thwarting deliveries. Also in the transportation mix are farmers traveling the same roads...

A recent trip back home to Louisiana sparked memories of a simpler time when old trucks full of fresh produce rumbled down dusty roads to deliver goods to the local market. The 2012 Census of Agriculture tells us that 50,000 farmers and ranchers nationwide are now selling to local retailers and that...

Over the course of 2013, we’ve seen yet another banner year for U.S. agricultural exports. Exports of U.S. farm and ranch products reached a record $140.9 billion in 2013 and supported about a million U.S. jobs. In fact, compared to the previous five-year period from 2004-2008, U.S. agricultural...

By Dan Berman, Senior Advisor to the Administrator, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service