USDA Blog

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: On April 4 th I had the opportunity to join Illinois’ Senator Dick Durbin, the President and First Lady’s personal trainer and member of President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition Cornell McClellan and staff from USDA, the Department of Health and...

Producers interested in offering land in an effort to protect millions of acres of topsoil from erosion and improve the nation’s natural resources, have until Friday, April 15, to do so. This is the second consecutive year that USDA has offered a general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) sign-up.

On Friday, April 8th I had the opportunity to see first-hand the many ways USDA Rural Development programs are improving the lives of rural Americans when I visited a variety of USDA-funded projects in Anita, Logan and Woodbine in western Iowa. In Anita, I met Duane Murphy, the local fire chief and...

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to south Texas to learn first-hand about our Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program. USDA has successfully eradicated cattle fever in the U.S. Only a permanent quarantine buffer zone remains in south Texas, which spans 500 miles from Del Rio to Brownsville...

You may have noticed a fresh, new look on USDA.gov last night – we're excited to announce the launch of our redesigned website! Our redesign team has been hard at work designing a new look and feel that should make navigating our site more user-friendly and intuitive. In support of our One USDA...

My colleague Julie Mikkelson and I are back to Chicago after a road trip across Michigan, March 22-24. We were there to recognize a number of schools for their efforts to support the First Lady’s LetsMove! initiative and the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC). Our trip began in Waterford, north of...

A Windham County, Conn., resident was recognized as an outstanding farmer during Ag Week for utilizing environmentally conscious technology and progressive agriculture sustainability. Matthew Peckham, who operates a dairy farm with 140 Holstein and Jersey cows, was honored during a ceremony at the...

In an effort to counter rising obesity rates among children, one Montana group is looking to a younger generation to take the lead in bringing locally-grown, nutritious food to schools in the area. The Grow Montana coalition, in conjunction with AmeriCorps, is accepting applications from March 25 to...

A newly released report Solar Energy Use in U.S. Agriculture. Overview and Policy Issues published by USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, serves as an overview of solar energy use by farmers and ranchers in the U.S.

“I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service and my Health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world.” This is the pledge that 300 4-H youth and volunteers gave on Monday when the 2011 National 4-H Conference kicked off in...