Georgia

The Southern Region of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, is home to nearly 144,000 farming operations that produce a variety of commodities. Agriculture is deeply rooted in the region and has shaped it into an area...

On May 16, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) held its Southeastern Regional Equity Convening on the grounds of The Sherrod Institute in Albany, Georgia in conjunction with the Institute’s Annual Farm Field Day, focused this year on advancing equity at USDA and ensuring equitable access for...

Food and service have a special place in Walter Brooks, Jr.’s heart. Today, he runs Brooksmade Gourmet Foods in Atlanta, Georgia, which exports clean-label condiments, sauces and rubs.

With last month’s announcement of the 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant awards, the program has reached a milestone of over $1 billion invested into projects to support the U.S. specialty crop industry. Since the program’s inception in 2006, 1890s land-grant universities throughout the country have...

Renee McDonald, a first-generation sheep producer in Lee County Georgia, spends many nights monitoring newborn ewes. In the last lambing season at Sheepy Acres Farm, eight out of ten of her pregnant ewes gave birth to twins. The lambing season holds many memories, but it also presents challenges...

USDA Rural Development’s Rural Partners Network (RPN) is transforming how the federal government partners with rural communities to foster economic growth. With an alliance of federal agencies and civic partners, RPN helps create jobs, build infrastructure, and improve communities throughout rural...

Wetlands are one of nature’s most important and productive ecosystems. They provide wildlife habitat, store floodwaters, filter pollutants, capture carbon, and offer recreational opportunities. Since 2016, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has spent $20 million to establish wetland...

I was excited to see Augusta University Research Institute featured on the local news for the phenomenal work they are accomplishing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Augusta University is using telemedicine equipment that they purchased with a grant from USDA Rural Development to run an emergency...

While growing up, we’re taught to mind our Ps and Qs. When it comes to Georgia agriculture, it’s all about the Ps – poultry, peanuts, pecans, peaches, and people. As the results of the 2017 Census of Agriculture show, Georgia continued to lead the nation in poultry, peanut, and pecan production and...

Wildfires blackened nearly 8.8 million acres in the United States last year, highlighted in the news by California’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in that state’s history.