USDA Blog

The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest new Supervisor's Office in Rhinelander, Wisc., was re-engineered with "green" features. The use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding helped complete its restoration. Here students from the USDA Forest Service’s Blackwell Job Corps Center help...

There is no better demonstration of the holiday spirit than when people give their time and resources to help those in need. USDA employees are a shining example of how a small gesture can go a long way toward helping others. In rural communities across the Commonwealth, many of them worked...

On December 18, USDA Rural Development hosted a Jobs and Economy Roundtable discussion in Livingston, Montana in Park County. About 7,000 people live in Livingston, which has an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent. The local economy was once dominated by the railroad and agriculture, but in recent...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was pleased to deliver a little holiday cheer to our nation’s dairy producers when he announced the implementation of the new Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment (DELAP) program. The 2010 Agricultural Appropriations Bill authorized $290 million for loss...

Just in time for the holidays we are implementing the new Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment (DELAP) program that will provide critical help to America’s struggling dairy farmers.

Those of us fortunate enough to have quality broadband service in our homes and workplaces know that it opens educational, business and entertainment opportunities that can only be imagined by those still living in a “dial up” world. President Obama believes that all Americans should have access to...

Today in Copenhagen, agricultural research took center stage at the United Nations Climate Change Conference when Ministers from 17 countries and I launched a Global Research Alliance that will help us better understand how agriculture can help reduce greenhouse gases while also growing more food...

USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan recently joined White House Assistant Chef and Food Initiative Coordinator Sam Kass and other USDA officials, staff, and volunteers to help winterize the garden on the White House grounds by establishing tunnels and cover crops.

Last week, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and I had the pleasure of meeting Kelly Hench, a single Mom of five whom, thanks to the recovery act, was able to move her kids to a home in a nice development just outside of Carlisle, PA.

With a lot of support from her family and financing through USDA Rural Development and the Recovery Act, Elissa Jahn is now a home owner. Check that, she is now a very proud home owner.