USDA Blog

On Friday, May 20, thousands of people throughout the United States will celebrate Endangered Species Day. It is an opportunity to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and the everyday actions people can take to help protect our nation’s natural resources. Each year, wildlife...

Food Banks across the country help millions of families in need keep their kitchen cabinets from going empty. Much of the food given out comes from donations; however USDA’s Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, helps food banks stretch their donations by making USDA commodity foods...

On April 27, I was honored to accompany President Shelley of the Navajo Nation for the National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) exercise held in Window Rock. The NVS exercise provides countermeasures – supplies, equipment, medicine, vaccines and response support services – that states and Tribes need to...

The deadline for the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE), is quickly approaching. Producers who have not signed up for either program have until June 1 to do so. “Producers must be aware of these deadlines and take action,” USDA Farm Service...

Innovation was the buzz word during the 2011 USDA Science and Technology Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) Board Meeting. The PVPO, part of the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Science and Technology Program, gives legal intellectual property rights, similar to patents, to breeders of new...

Last week, I traveled to Canada - the second-largest market for U.S. agricultural products. Wanting to see our companies promoting U.S. export sales, I attended SIAL Canada, an international trade show in Toronto, which welcomed more than 530 exhibitors and 12,000 food and agricultural business...

USDA and Lutheran SeniorLife recently celebrated the dedication and open house of RoseCrest Assisted Living Facility. USDA Rural Development provided a $3 Million Community Facilities loan for the construction of the new state-of-the-art facility designed specifically for older adults with Alzheimer...

Wednesday, April, 20, 2011 marked an important day for northeastern Minnesotans. Ground was broken to mark the beginning of a three-year project to supply high-speed broadband access across eight counties and surrounding of the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. The project was funded with $43.5 million...

This year, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) celebrates its 50 th anniversary. ERS was established on April 3, 1961 during the Kennedy Administration, when USDA combined the Department’s economic research functions into one agency. The functions of our predecessor agency, the Bureau of...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: We’re entering the home stretch in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition. Judges will be fanning out to schools across the country to watch them prepare the delicious recipes that have made it to the semi-finals. My colleague, Audrey Rowe...