USDA Blog

Cross posted from the White House Council on Environmental Quality blog: How important is water? Well, it’s not a question I have to think too hard about. What I can tell you is that without it, there wouldn’t be any humans or critters roaming the earth.

The USDA’s Food Safety Discovery Zone has finished its spring 2012 tour, taking hands-on food safety lessons across the Southeast. Stopping in the smallest towns and big cities like Dallas, we were able to educate over 175,000 people on preventing foodborne illness. Real food safety experts who work...

Are you an educator looking for a unique new way to motivate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to eat healthfully and cook more at home? Or do you just love browsing, collecting, and arranging new recipes? Either way, you’re going to appreciate the latest feature added to...

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...

On March 14-15, employees from the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) participated in the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Employment Extravaganza in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Thanks to advertisements in the school newspaper and other local media outlets, the event had a great turnout. The...