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...

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 profile. When it comes to microorganisms that contaminate our foods, you may think it’s a veritable jungle out there—but in fact, in...

When a newspaper reporter asked me recently, “What can I tell our readers about the USDA programs,” I told her: “Most of what USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service does is through others.” As I travel throughout the country, I see how different organizations come together to carry out our mission of...

Olga Morales admits she is kind of a workaholic. Two decades ago, Olga Morales worked inside an egg products plant in Elizabeth, N.J., inspecting food to make sure it was safe for the public to purchase and to eat. Today, after rising through the ranks at the Food Safety and Inspection Service, she...

The far northern Maine towns of St. Agatha and Frenchville recognize the value of partnership. So when the aging St. Agatha wastewater treatment plant began to have issues, the towns began to work on a solution. That solution was a mutually beneficial partnership with Frenchville, located only six...

Are you interested in helping shape the future of USDA human nutrition research? What human nutrition-related issues are you interested in? Childhood obesity? The nutrient content of foods? Health promotion and disease prevention? Now’s your chance to let your voice be heard. Be an active...