USDA Blog

With the summer crop season winding down at a rapid pace, the agricultural weather focus is turning to winter wheat. In the hard red winter wheat belt of the Great Plains, wheat planting got off to a slow start due to extremely dry conditions. By September 9 , planting was behind the five-year...

It’s that time of year again to be amazed by a brilliant display of nature—spectacular fall colors in your national forests. The color and beauty of something as simple as a leaf in autumn turns the landscape of many forests into a painter’s pallet of stunning hues of red, yellow and orange. And the...

When Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe water resource professionals discovered that 60 percent of the Minnesota reservation’s septic systems were sub-standard or failing, they feared for the reservation’s health, indigenous rice fields, and fish populations. Shirley Nordrum, a Leech Lake Extension educator...

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of congratulating 11 extraordinary individuals being recognized through the White House Champions of Change program for their work to tackle hunger in the United States and abroad. The Champions recognized today are making improved access to healthy food a reality...

An apple for the teacher? Yes, and the cafeteria too. Classic images of eager children handing perfect apples to their teacher abound. In the idealized imagery, the apples are often shiny, red, and round. And if you are angling for a good grade, or really like your teacher, the apples are big. But...

For nearly a century, the aquatic life that once thrived in the Monday Creek Watershed has been virtually dead. The goal of this Recovery Act project, known as "Devastation to Destination," is to construct a healthy functioning riparian corridor, restore water quality, and create an integrated land...

Earlier today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released a report highlighting the ways in which Community Facilities infrastructure investments in rural communities help create jobs and boost economic development, and Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager announced additional investments that will...

When pest detections led China to suspend exports of logs from Virginia and South Carolina last spring, USDA began work to minimize the impact of this trade disruption on one of those states’ most important industries. We began by negotiating with China to establish science-based standards to allow...

Since 1997, Prairieland Economic Development Commission in Slayton, Minnesota, has been partnering with USDA Rural Development and local lenders to grow the economy and create jobs in southwestern Minnesota. Prairieland has financed over 60 rural businesses and helped create hundreds of jobs using...

Recently I had a great opportunity to attend a meeting of Maryland’s Partnership to End Childhood Hunger. Led by Governor Martin O’Malley’s Office for Children, the Partnership "table" brings together state agencies, USDA, local non-profit organizations such as food banks, advocacy groups, and the...