USDA Blog

South Dakota is in the middle of the Great Plains, a vast prairie ecosystem stretching across much of North America that two hundred years ago was covered in native grasses and wildflowers. Today, visitors can get a glimpse of the prairie of the past, with the help of NRCS ’ Conservation Technical...

This week, I am taking 21 representatives of foreign embassies in our nation’s capital to Washington state and Oregon for the Foreign Agricultural Service’s 26 th annual orientation tour. These representatives are from Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Fiji, France...

In Illinois, the city of Elgin has completed a U.S. Forest Service Recovery Act-funded urban forestry project that channeled over one million dollars into the local economy. Working with businesses such as tree service firms, nurseries, landscapers, hotels, restaurants, graphic designers, and...

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio. Working in science can be a real pleasure, especially when your research translates into a life changing experience. The...

Cross posted from the White House blog: On Saturday, I visited the Port of Miami to see firsthand the success story of American agriculture and the jobs it is creating. Despite historic natural disasters, our agriculture business is booming.

Recently I visited the Deer Run Farm in Brookhaven, New York on a tour of farms across the nation to talk face-to-face with producers and growers about produce safety. Farmer Bob Nolan from Deer Run Farm invited us to walk through his fields so he could share with us his thoughts and concerns about...

As students across the country get back in school and we gear up for Monday Night Football, the Fuel Up to Play 60 program is ready for another action-packed year of nutrition and fitness events. An initiative that encourages kids of all ages to be healthy and active, the overall goal of the program...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: When the word community is in your middle name, it’s only natural to start gardens producing healthy, nutritious foods. The Jewish Community Centers (JCC) Association has taken on the First Lady’s Let’s Move Faith and Communities challenge of growing community...

In 1996, only two schools nationwide bought food directly from farmers in their region through what are called farm-to-school programs. Today, these programs exist in over 2,000 U.S. schools – and a new pilot program in Michigan and Florida could send that number ticking quickly upward. Farm-to...

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website: A five-generation family farm, Young’s Greenhouse was severely damaged in a tornado.