USDA Blog

On June 19, 2012, Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Doug O'Brien led the Department's third monthly Virtual Office Hours on USDA's role in economic development in our nation’s rural communities, including the great strides that have been made in agricultural economy and the important role...

Recently, I had the honor of presiding at the Dedication of the Dr. Charles E. Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, Neb. The laboratory is part of the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) National Soil Survey Center and serves as the primary source for the Nation’s soil...

It has been said that the most successful person in life (and in business) is often the one who has the best information. For almost a century USDA Market News has been providing farmers, ranchers and businesses with the best market and pricing information. Our real-time commodity reports, produced...

USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager had a unique opportunity to see the many dynamic things happening in rural Maine communities during his visit earlier this month. Each of the projects he visited represented a different way in which USDA Rural Development’s Programs are...

Willie Hall and his family are enjoying the American Dream and USDA Rural Development has been with him along the way. Willie was a tenant at Roxbury Ridge Apartments, a Rural Development Multi-Family Housing complex in Shippensburg for many years. He recently accepted a full time position and took...

It was chilly and wet when they arrived in western Oregon, but that didn’t dampen the excitement of the 165 sixth-grade students from six small schools who arrived via yellow buses, pick-up trucks, vans and even a horse trailer at this year’s Forest Camp Outdoor School near the small town of Lebanon...

USDA Rural Development has a long history of collaboration with the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. I’ve seen the power of these collaborations first-hand, both in my current role as Under Secretary for Rural Development, as well back in the 1990s when I had the opportunity to serve as Rural...

A construction project will literally bridge the gap between dreams and real-world adventure on the Chugach National Forest.

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 USDA’s rich science and research portfolio. Nothing gives us a better insight into the U.S. farm economy than USDA’s annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey...

Last summer, my colleague Barbara Lopez and I traveled to South Dakota to document the great work two Native American Tribes were doing to feed their children during the summer months. Feeding children during the summer is crucial in fighting childhood hunger because children are out of school and...