research and science

To learn more about agriculture in the great state of Washington, check out the 2017 Census of Agriculture Washington State Profile (PDF, 948 KB).

In 2019, 19.3 percent of the 3.8 billion people in 76 low- and middle-income countries are projected to be food insecure, meaning they do not have access to sufficient food for an active and healthy lifestyle. By 2029, their food security situation is projected to improve, leaving 9.2 percent food insecure (assuming rising per-capita incomes, stable or declining food prices, and no new major crises).

For some, agriculture may not be the first thought that comes to mind when you think of Colorado. Mountains, lakes, and national parks might come first. But to the proud 69,032 farmers and ranchers operating in Colorado, agriculture is their primary thought.

Each spring, ranchers face the same challenge of trying to guess how much grass will be available for their livestock to graze during the summer. Ranchers make this determination relying on boots-on-the-ground observations of rangeland conditions. But now in the Northern Great Plains, ranchers have a new forecasting tool to help them with this important decision: “Grass-Cast.”

For anyone who wants to see the facts about Missouri agriculture, the 2017 Census of Agriculture is the place to look, with more than 60,000 facts covering every aspect of Missouri agriculture at the state and county levels.

How do river ecosystems support fish? How do environmental changes influence the system’s capacity to support fish? And how might different restoration strategies influence fish? These are questions J. Ryan Bellmore, a research fish biologist who works in Juneau, Alaska, for the USDA Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, and his partners set out to answer.

Purple corn is more than tasty and eye-catching. Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have discovered a game-changing element of purple corn – it may help reduce the risk of major health diseases.

Despite an unusually wet spring followed by an unusually cool June, America’s corn farmers planted even more than they did last year. U.S. farmers have planted 91.7 million acres of corn in 2019, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). That’s about 69 million football fields of corn and 3 percent more corn than last year, far more acres than the next largest crop, soybeans.

Every summer, families across the country turn their thoughts to vacation. Many will travel to South Dakota. Each year, approximately 3 million tourists from all over the world visit Mount Rushmore to experience the patriotic site. Millions more will enjoy the stunning views of Badlands National Park and abundant wildlife roaming through Custer State Park. But while South Dakota may be nicknamed The Mount Rushmore State, South Dakota always has been, and will continue to be, an agricultural state. Agriculture is the life-blood of South Dakota and the state’s No. 1 industry.

Sometimes food scraps can turn into gold. Tara McHugh, of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), has overseen this alchemy as director of ARS’s Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California. Over the course of her career, McHugh has investigated ways to take food-processing waste and turn it into value-added products, such as fruit bars, vegetable crisps and even edible films made from produce.