USDA Blog

Thanks the efforts of community members and financing from USDA Rural Development and Agstar Rural Capital Network, a project nine years in the making will soon be a reality in Hutchinson, Minn.

It was my privilege to celebrate National School Lunch Week in Byram, MS, the greater Jackson area, to recognize Byram Middle School for meeting the Gold level of the HealthierUS School Challenge. I was glad that Deuce McAllister, retired running back for the New Orleans Saints and Ole Miss, was...

From New England through the south and across the upper Midwest to the Rockies and Pacific Northwest, many people anticipate that this weekend will be a showcase for a vast array of brilliant fall colors.

The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City recently hosted an “Agricultural Sustainability Forum” at the legendary American Royal facilities in the historic Kansas City Stockyards district. Among the featured speakers was USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan.

In early October, USDA’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships was honored to host a dozen Latino faith leaders to our “Tuve Hambre y Me Diste de Comer” (“For I was Hungry and You Fed Me”) consultation on improving Latino outreach. USDA studies show that 1 out of 4 Hispanic households...

The little farming town of Colo sits just east of Ames, Iowa, in the central part of the state. It's harvest season here. Farm families are trading shifts in their combines to harvest their crops before winter. Rows of soybean and corn stubble disappear into the yellow and brown rolling hills. Folks...

For the past several years USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has worked on transforming our agency by raising the already high level of service even higher. Today we took the next step in this transformation by creating the new National Operations Center in the Overland, Mo...

Yesterday marked the official launch of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) at USDA for the Washington, D.C. metro area. This year, USDA has set a goal of raising just under $2 million from our employees in the national capital area. We have chosen the theme Give: Every Day, Every Way, as it...

Maine USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel welcomed the Deputy Administrator for Rural Utilities (RUS) Jessica Zufolo to Maine this week for an important tribal consultation meeting with leaders of Maine’s Native American tribes.

An organic breakfast featuring vanilla spiced whole oats, scrambled vegetable tofu, organic milk and local pears, followed by morning yoga in the classroom, a student-led garden tour and a visit to the chicken coop… what a wonderful way to spend a Tuesday morning! That day, I had the pleasure of...