USDA Blog

Imagine traveling 2,000 miles from home for the first time to trade high-rise buildings for towering trees, city lights for twinkling stars, and an urban cacophony for the melodies of songbirds. For most of us, this would be a vacation. For six Baltimore teenagers, it was a journey to work long...

Every summer Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian college students from across the nation come to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as participants in the program Washington Internships for Native Students (WINS); I am one of them...

The Agriculture Department announced this week that SuperTracker, an interactive diet and activity tracking tool, reached one million registered users. SuperTracker, maintained by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), is a free online application. Users can choose from a wide...

Today, President Obama and I continue doing all we can to help farmers and ranchers impacted by the drought. As Congress comes back to Washington in September we will continue to encourage passage of a Food, Farm and Jobs Bill as soon as possible – to give USDA tools to help those who have been...

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) has a new mural added to its collection at its new Nebraska Agriculture Industry Education Center. The USDA mural depicts the various projects that can be accomplished through the programs and funding offered through the USDA Mission Areas. USDA...

Last week, USDA Undersecretary Michael Scuse visited with farmers and ranchers in Missouri and Kansas. Scuse is just one of several USDA officials to fan out to more than a dozen drought-affected states in the past two months as part of President Obama’s commitment to get help to producers impacted...

If you've been following our favorite Social Media Moments of 2011, you can see we had a lot to choose from. Top on our list isn't necessarily a social media moment, but is an important moment in our focus on providing better service through web communication. The redesign of USDA.gov in April 2011...

As we enjoy the holiday season, it is a great time to celebrate all that American agriculture has accomplished, and to look ahead to a productive new year. Our farmers, ranchers and growers make incredible contributions each day to the health and strength of this country. Thanks to their...

When a Kansas State University football player plants his opponent’s face into the turf, the result may be a better-tasting blend of artificial grass. Turf is not a part of the USDA’s MyPlate recommendations, but defensive ends playing in the Wildcats’ stadium can skip their pre-game soy latte and...

U.S. broiler meat exports to Sub-Saharan Africa have increased 24 percent since 2010 and 460 percent since 2001. The U.S. is the largest supplier of China’s turkey meat imports, totaling nearly 90 percent of all imports. Turkey meat imports to China in 2011 will increase 70 percent over 2010.