 Links
to USDA and Partner Agencies
- Cooperative State
Extension Services --- Access to over 100 Land-grant Universities
and Colleges and 3,500 county offices providing research, education
and extension services in community development, agriculture and natural
resources, youth development, family science, consumer sciences, and
other disciplines.
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- CSREES Small Farms Initiative
--- The goal is to improve the income levels and the economic viability
of small farm enterprises through partnerships with the Land Grant
Universities and Colleges and public and private sectors by encouraging
research, extension, and education programs that meet the specific
needs of small farmers.
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- Farmers Markets
--- Includes information about USDA-sponsored farmers markets in the
Washington, DC area and the National Directory of Farmers Markets.
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- Farmer Direct Marketing
--- Includes news and information about direct marketing, publications,
(including Farmer Direct Marketing Bibliography), resources, and links
and a list of direct marketing resources by state.
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- National Agricultural Library Alternative
Farming Systems Information Center --- AFSIC specializes
in locating and accessing information related to alternative cropping
systems including sustainable, organic, low-input, biodynamic, and
regenerative agriculture. AFSIC also focuses on new uses for
traditional crops, and crops grown for industrial production.
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- Regional Rural Development
Centers --- Four Regional Rural Development Centers serve
as unique regional and national networks to catalyze, initiate, facilitate,
and evaluate research and educational programs that have the potential
to improve the social and economic well-being of individuals in small
towns and rural places in their respective regions.
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-
Resource Conservation
and Development (RC&D) Program --- The RC&D Program
functions through RC&D Councils, with a fourfold purpose: water,
soil, and community development and other environmental aspects
that serve the needs of rural communities.
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- Farmland Protection
--- The NRCS Farmland Protection Program works through state, local,
and tribal governments to purchase agricultural conservation easements
for protecting farmland from conversion to non-agricultural uses.
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- Community Food Projects
--- Community Food Projects are designed to increase food security
in communities by bringing the whole food system together to assess
strengths, establish linkages, and create systems that improve the
self-reliance of community members over their food needs.
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-
Grazing Lands Technology
Institute (GLTI) --- The Institute provides technical excellence
to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and other appropriate
customers in the acquisition, development, coordination, and transfer
of technology that meets the needs of grazing land resources, landowners
and managers, and the public.
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- Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
--- IPM minimizes pesticide use, enhances environmental stewardship,
and sustains natural systems. This is achieved by protecting commodities
with environmentally and economically sound practices resulting in
abundant and diverse supplies of food and fiber products.
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- Rural Development/Community
Development --- The Office of Community Development operates
special initiatives to demonstrate effective community development
techniques and address unique and pressing economic development issues.
Initiatives include: Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities (EZ/EC),
National Centers of Excellence, National Centers of Excellence
Tribal College Project, and Rural Economic Action Program (REAP).
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- National Rural Development Partnership
(NRDP) --- NRDP works through 36 State Rural Development Councils
and a National Rural Development Council, bringing together federal,
state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the private for-profit
and non-profit sectors, to work in partnership for the improvement
of rural America's communities.
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- Cooperative Forestry
--- Cooperative Forestry provides technical and financial assistance
to help rural and urban citizen, and private landowners to care for
forests and sustain the communities where they live, work, and play.
Through partnerships with State forestry organizations and many others,
Federal funding is leveraged to help produce a variety of forest-based
goods and services, such as recreation, water, wildlife and fish resources,
timber, and a variety of nontimber products to meet domestic and international
needs.
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- National Agroforestry Center (NAC)
--- NAC is a pioneering program designed to accelerate the development
of agroforestry, a science and practice that integrates agriculture
and forestry land uses. The partnership combines the resources of
the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service
to develop and apply agroforestry technologies in appropriate conservation
and/or production systems for farms, ranches, and communities.
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- Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education (SARE) --- SARE works to increase knowledge about
-- and help farmers and ranchers adopt --practices that are economically
viable, environmentally sound, and socially responsible. To
advance such knowledge nationwide, SARE administers a competitive
grant program first funded by Congress in 1988.
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- Sustainable
Resource Management (SRM) ---
SRM works across
all areas of the Forest Service --
State & Private Forestry, National Forest Systems, Research and
Development, Programs & Legislation, International Programs, and
Business Operations -- to implement sustainable development. Guided
by the agency mission statement "to sustain the health, diversity
and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the
needs of the present and future generations," Forest Service
is striving to broaden and deepen sustainability within the agency.
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Additional
Links to USDA and Partner Agencies
-
Economic Research Service Farm Bill Briefing Room
-
Cooperative
Services at Rural Business Service
-
Rural
Housing Service
-
Rural
Utilities Service
-
Sustainable
Agriculture Network
Links
to Other Federal Agencies
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