USDA Blog

In an historic Cedar Rapids, Iowa, neighborhood devastated by floods in 2008, Secretary Tom Vilsack joined local leaders Saturday, October 27 for the dedication of a year-round local foods market. He called it a testament to neighbors and visionary leaders who saw a need for locally-produced foods...

Many communities in remote rural Alaska are only accessible by plane or boat and essentially inaccessible during the long, hard winters. They lag far behind the lower 48 states in having safe and dependable drinking water and suitable waste disposal systems available. The Rural Alaska Village Grant...

STEM – the fields of study in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. No one had trouble communicating despite the acronym overload at a STEM Internship Expo hosted recently at Phoenix College in Arizona. Several USDA agencies gathered under the shade of a canopy with tables packed with...

With the assistance of a South Dakota USDA Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG), the Jackson County-Kadoka Economic Development Corporation is closer to its vision of assisting residents and businesses in achieving their full potential to increase economic security. The grant...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today made the following statement on the passing of Senator George McGovern: "Simply put, Senator George McGovern spent his life standing up for others. He honorably defended our nation during a time of war. He was a tremendous advocate for his home state of South...

Thomas Guevara, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs at the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration, joined Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture V.O. “Butch” Calhoun, along with USDA and other federal, state and local officials on October 17th for a regional workshop...

On September 26, 2012, I addressed a group of 8th grade female students and their mothers at the conference luncheon held by the University of Texas-Pan American. The event was part of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) week. During Latina Day, participants discussed the...

At a recent expo held by the Oregon Woodland Cooperative (OWC), I had the opportunity to meet with a number of family forest landowners who are cultivating additional commercial ventures thanks, in part, to USDA’s Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program. At the event, OWC President Neil Schroeder...

As the drought continues, USDA and other Federal agencies are doing all we can to help farmers, ranchers and communities. Unfortunately, USDA’s tools are limited today. Due to inaction by Congress, many programs authorized under the 2008 Farm Bill expired on October 1. Other aspects of the law will...

USDA Rural Development Michigan State Director James Turner joined Senator Debbie Stabenow and local officials this summer in celebrating the opening of the largest commercial-scale anaerobic digester in the United States. The Fremont Community Digester is an ambitious new use of a proven technology...