Tom Vilsack

It has been more than a year since Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative to encourage conversations about local food systems. In that time, the initiative has strengthened the local foods movement that was...

If you have ever been bullied, Secretary Vilsack wants you to know that it gets better.

Did you know that Canada is the United States’ largest agricultural trading partner, accounting for 16 percent of all U.S. agricultural trade? In 2009, U.S. agricultural exports to Canada were valued at $15.7 billion. Geographical proximity, similar business practices and eating habits make Canada...

As we mark the beginning of National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month I would like to make a request of everyone reading this blog: Take time today to learn more about the culture and history of the first people of this country. There will be events across the Nation, including here...

Yesterday I accompanied Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, State Director for Michigan Rural Development James Turner and Congressman Mark Schauer on a visit to the Center for Family Health (CFH) in Jackson, a city about 30 miles south of Lansing.

Cross-posted from the White House Blog. The estimated number of jobs created or saved through USDA Recovery Act investments in rural America continues to grow. Today, I am in Ohio, where USDA has provided over $59.5 million in loan guarantees to help rural businesses grow, innovate and create jobs...

The announcement last week that USDA and the Department of Justice have reached an agreement with Native American farmers and ranchers to settle alleged incidents of discrimination by USDA marks the start of a new civil rights era. This isn’t just talk. It is meaningful action on the part of the...

Saturday, October 23, 2010 -- This morning dawned a beautiful, crisp, autumn day here in the District of Columbia. As the sun climbed above the horizon, over 500 volunteers gathered to build a playground at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in northeast DC. Among the volunteers were Secretary and...

In mid-October, USDA’s Under Secretaries for Natural Resources & Environment, Rural Development, and Farm & Foreign Agriculture Services launched a major new Wood-to-Energy Initiative that seeks to build a forest restoration economy by integrating wood-to-energy activities within the larger forest...

Cross-posted from the White House blog. Our country needs a strong, vibrant rural economy. Advanced biofuel production will help create it. Not only will biofuel production from non-food sources create new jobs and new streams of farm income, it will improve environmental quality and reduce our...