USDA Blog

One of our biggest opportunities to increase employment and income in rural America is to enhance the sustainability of beginning farmers. Many farmers are retiring, and coupled with a renewed interest in local foods is causing an increased demand on small and medium-sized farmers. Nearly 25 percent...

Somerton, Arizona, is a great example of how USDA Rural Development programs can help bolster a small rural community by touching so many aspects of not only the rural economy but the diverse and vibrant rural people who make it work.

As USDA continues to roll out energy programs contained in the 2008 Farm Bill, more producers are expressing their interests in better understanding of renewable energy, reaching out to us to find out how to make informed decisions and decide if there are opportunities for them. Opportunities that...

After struggling for several years with a stagnant economy, the future is looking brighter for Paulsboro, New Jersey. Earlier this week, USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl Cook, Assistant Administrator for the Water and Environmental Program Jacki Ponti, and I attended an event to...

Here’s the second video in our three-part series introducing Rural Development programs that can support local and regional food systems:

Blue Skies and excitement in the air was the setting for the recent celebration of dedicating three new classroom buildings at Soldier Hollow Charter School (SHCS), in Midway, Utah. The new buildings were designed to fit perfectly into the stunning mountain terrain. The school is recognized for its...

USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Vasquez and Congressman Bob Etheridge along with North Carolina Rural Development State Director Randall Gore visited the Middlesex Elementary School construction site in Nash County, North Carolina earlier this week. The project was funded through the...

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.

Today's farms, ranches and agricultural enterprises are more diverse and more specialized. And today's farms and related businesses require new financial services, more equity and greater flexibility from their lenders if they are to effectively manage their businesses. Producers and rural...

On the first day of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2010, USDA Rural Development and Calais Regional Hospital came together with the mission of saving lives. The hospital’s outdated mammography machine was being replaced with a state-of- the-art digital mammography machine, funded in part by...