USDA Blog

Volunteers from the U.S. Forest Service joined forces with Leon County, Florida residents recently to participate in the county’s 17 th annual Super-Clean Sweep cleanup activities which included parts of the Apalachicola National Forest. The county-wide event was part of the “Keep Tallahassee Leon...

Nebraska news media, including local daily and weekly newspapers and radio stations around the state highlighted the energy tour conducted by U SDA Rural Development Nebraska State Director Maxine Moul on March 23. She met with three Nebraska businesses that were assisted through the Rural Energy...

The Spotted Bear Ranger Station at the Flathead National Forest in western Montana generates electricity using micro-hydropower. Like a traditional hydro dam, this small water system converts the energy of flowing water into electricity. When the water level of Addition Creek on the ranger station...

America’s farmers are among our first and finest conservationists. At USDA, we support their work to protect natural landscapes, improve water and air quality, and preserve wildlife habitat, forests and soil. In addition to environmental benefits, this work helps drive economic growth and creates...

Conservation is in plain sight on Janet Kline’s Hidden View Farm in Virginia, with streamside fencing and buffers well integrated into the rolling vistas of the Massanutten and Little North mountains. These conservation practices were implemented with the help of USDA’s Natural Resources...

The largest wood beams ever tested are being studied at the US Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, Wis. If you’ve ever wondered what 80,000 pounds of load looks or sounds like when applied to a 72-foot-long, 3-ton wood beam, now’s your chance. Bam! View this short video to...

Whether you are an avid football fan who can’t wait until kickoff or you’re part of the 40 percent going to a Super Bowl party just for the food, there’s a good chance you will be as close to chicken wings as the television on Sunday. In fact, the National Chicken Council estimates that Americans...

For Texas rancher Dallas Ford and other Gulf Coast landowners, the Gulf of Mexico Initiative means an opportunity to make a positive difference not only on their lands, but also in the inland waters that flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico Initiative (GoMI) is a new program of USDA’s...

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. With spring not that far away, the garden catalogues are starting to fly through the mail, but the “must read” of the...

Last week, USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager made a brief, but impactful visit to Oregon joining USDA Rural Development State Director Vicki Walker to announce program support and celebrate milestones in rural economic development with local communities.