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Unless policies are changed, the volatility and price fluctuations seen by the dairy industry within the past two years will become more severe, according to a panel of dairy policy experts who presented their research findings yesterday during the USDA Dairy Industry Advisory Committee meeting.

Farm Service Agency Administrator Jonathan Coppess, hosted an informal round table discussion with farmers during the Farm Science Review, being held this week in London, Ohio.  Having grown up in Darke County, Ohio, Coppess felt right at home talking to farmers from the surrounding area.

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog.

Editors note: Organizing a meetup is a great way to get involved and support your community.  Below, a team of Federal employees share how they set up their first meetup.

WASHINGTON, DC – On September 16^th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting an event at headquarters and inviting top ranking Hispanic Leaders. The theme for the 2010 National Hispanic Heritage Month is “Heritage, Diversity, Integrity, and Honor: The Renewed Hope of America”.

Want to know how the U.S. does agriculture? Go straight to the source. That’s what I’m doing in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho this week with 24 international officials from 23 countries.

Members of our group, who serve at their countries’ embassies and consulates here in the U.S., hail from Angola, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, Delegation of the European Union (UK), France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iraq, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, and Vietnam. All participants pay their own travel, lodging and tour expenses.

The kids of eastern Kentucky have been getting a mega dose of food safety awareness this month. The USDA Food Safety Discovery Zone, a 40-foot long interactive exhibit on wheels, has been traveling throughout Rowan and Fayette Counties, teaching kids from seven schools how to keep them safe from foodborne illness. Additionally, the Food Safety Discovery Zone stopped at the Midway Fall Festival in Midway, Kentucky for an extra opportunity to blend education with fun while increasing food safety awareness.

I recently took a drive out to Martinsburg, West Virginia to visit Orr’s Farm Market .  The Orr’s market, like dozens in the area, stock fresh fruits and vegetables just harvested from the nearby fields and fertile orchards.  In fact, more than 95 percent of Orr’s produce is grown just feet from where I strolled: an impressive display of berries, sweet corn, heirloom tomatoes, and a wide assortment of peach varieties of every imaginable type.  But fresh and local produce isn’t all I found at Orr’s.  You see, this market, along with many more around the country, welcomes participants in USDA food and nutrition programs--and that is very good news.

I recently had the pleasure to spend a little time with some expecting and nursing mothers in Martinsburg, West Virginia.  It was the first meeting of a newly formed community breastfeeding support group planned to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week.  My friend Mitch Greenbaum, Director of Shenandoah Valley WIC and Nutrition Services, and his team of trained WIC nutritionists, board-certified lactation consultants and breastfeeding peer counselors, hosted nearly two dozen pregnant and nursing mothers to talk about how important breastfeeding is for both mother and child and how to have a satisfying and healthy breastfeeding experience.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is a federal agency that provides one-on-one conservation assistance to farmers, ranchers and other private landowners. We help landowners grow food and other crops in more efficient, environmentally friendly ways to protect the natural resources that we all depend upon—water, soil, air and wildlife. With 70 percent of land in the lower 48 states in private hands, the choices these landowners make truly determine the health of the environment.

I recently visited the Park Heights Community Farmers’ Market in Baltimore, Maryland.  At USDA we’re enthusiastic about farmers markets because they help fulfill two of our primary missions – promoting good nutrition and supporting United States agriculture, especially family farmers.  Farmers’ markets also boost local communities through increased outlets for local farmers.