USDA Blog

David Ferrell seems to rebound from setbacks with a vengeance. During his first semester of college, his mother fell ill and he had to drop out to help take care of her and his four younger siblings. Back home, Ferrell met Charles Minor, a local Virginia man who would become a lifelong influence and...

Over the last 15 years, the USDA has made great strides in our efforts to reduce fraud and abuse in its programs. Payment accuracy has never been higher: in FY 2010, 96.19 percent of all benefits were issued correctly, the fourth consecutive year the program has achieved a historically high rate...

On the heels of Secretary Vilsack’s visit to the Midwest last week to inspect Missouri River flood damage to area farms and communities, Farm and Foreign Service (FFAS) Acting Deputy Under Secretary Karis Gutter stopped by Mounds City, Missouri and Hamburg, Iowa to hear from local producers, and to...

The Forest Service fondly remembers the contributions of Dr. Walter A. Soboleff, a centenarian deeply revered and Tlingit elder, who died last month at the age of 102. Located in Alaska, the Tlingit are a Native society that developed a complex hunter-gatherer culture in the temperate rainforest of...

Owning a home in the same area where he built his business is a win-win for new homeowner Greg Kane. In early June 2011, Kane purchased his studio condominium at Riverbend, Colorado, through the help of US Bank Home Mortgage and the USDA Rural Development Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan Program...

As Administrator of USDA’s Risk management Agency (RMA), I want to assure affected producers within the flood-swollen areas of the Missouri River that this flood event is covered by crop insurance for those insured farmers and ranchers within the terms and conditions of their policy. The flood...