USDA Blog

“So, how fortunate are you? Are you free? Can you eat?” -Excerpt from JCPA Hunger Seder Haggadah On Thursday, April 14th, US Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon and several representatives from the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships joined Members...

On Friday. U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell presented a $6,000 check to Barnard Elementary School during Earth Day festivities that included building raised bed gardens, planting vegetables and showcasing the school’s outdoor classroom in Washington, D.C. “Earth Day reminds us that we need kids...

At USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), we subscribe to the “Every day is Earth Day” way of thinking. Celebrating Earth Day provides us with the opportunity to underscore the significance of the work being done every day by our agency, through conservation planning and producer...

The use of biofuels needs to expand throughout all of the United States. That’s what Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told an audience of about 50 producers, stakeholders and agency leaders during a renewable energy roundtable discussion at CHS Inc. in Inver Grove Heights, Minn. on Wednesday...

Recently, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited Alcorn State University and Mississippi State University as a part of the College Tour, a series of presentations at schools around the country that highlights the relevance of agriculture to our nation’s most pressing issues, including healthy...

Mike and Jill Viafore are crafty. This past summer, the couple designed and built a portable demonstration house to educate the public about the benefits of rain barrels and rain gardens at exhibits and fairs.

Earlier this week, to help kick-off USDA Rural Development’s celebration of Earth Day, I joined with Undersecretary Dallas Tonsager in announcing support for more than 50 USDA Rural Development projects that will help improve water and wastewater systems and provide energy efficiency system upgrades...

When landowners have resource problems, they turn to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and our conservation partners. And when NRCS has challenges, we often turn to our Earth Team volunteers for help. Our more than 30,000 volunteers assist us with conservation planning and...

The USDA Forest Service’s Fuels for Schools and Beyond program promotes and encourages the use biomass to energy as a renewable and natural resource. Recently the U.S. Forest Service recognized the Darby School District in Montana for success in the Fuels for Schools Program for their innovation...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spent part of last week in St. Louis, Mo., making several stops to promote trade and agriculture and to announce the opening of a new office in St. Louis for the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.