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Forest Service Teams Help in Aftermath of Historic Flooding in Tbilisi, Georgia

December 15, 2015 Karin Theophile, U.S. Forest Service, International Programs

Last summer, after a flash flood swept through Tbilisi, the capital of the nation of Georgia, the U.S. Forest Service deployed three teams to help address some of the most critical challenges. The horrific event killed 19 people, forced 67 families from their homes, destroyed roads, and flooded the...

Forestry Trade

Five Ways the Trans-Pacific Partnership Will Benefit Agriculture and Rural America

December 11, 2015 Phil Karsting, Administrator, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the largest multilateral trade agreement since NAFTA, will break down barriers to trade and create significant new opportunities for U.S. agriculture. The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries finalized the terms of the deal in October and it must now...

Trade

A Banner Year for Economic and Social Research: 5 Reports on Rural Communities and on Opportunities for Agriculture

December 11, 2015 Mary Bohman, Administrator, Economic Research Service

USDA scientists work 365 days to provide safe and sustainable food, water, and natural resources in the face of a changing climate and uncertain energy sources. To recognize the contribution that agricultural science and research makes in our daily lives, this week’s “Banner Year” series features...

USDA Results Food and Nutrition Trade

A Banner Year for Education: 5 Grants Supporting Ag Education at All Levels, from Classrooms to Farms and the Table

December 09, 2015 Scott Elliot, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

USDA scientists work 365 days to provide safe and sustainable food, water, and natural resources in the face of a changing climate and uncertain energy sources. To recognize the contribution that agricultural science and research makes in our daily lives, this week’s “Banner Year” series features...

Initiatives

Job Corps Students, Alumnae 'Pay it Forward,' Helping Each Other Learn Leadership Skills

December 08, 2015 Michaela Hall and Jane Knowlton, U.S. Forest Service

Preparing for a career involves many steps, plus individual motivation as well as help from those who’ve gone before you. That’s what a group of 60 Harpers Ferry Job Corps students explored recently during a recent training session related to job preparedness for the U.S. Forest Service. Their...

Initiatives Forestry

Library Garden Provides 'Rest Stop' for Monarch Butterflies

December 04, 2015 Ellen Starr, Biologist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Illinois

The pollinator garden at our library in Princeton, Ill. is a popular rest stop for monarch butterflies on their cross-continental journey. My agency, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), worked with local partners and businesses to create a 2,400-square-foot pollinator garden as a...

Conservation Initiatives

Working Together to Address Global Food Insecurity

December 02, 2015 Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden

As a daughter of farmers, and as someone who has spent her career working on behalf of farmers, one of the things I care most deeply about is the future of agriculture – both in the United States and around the world. That is why one of my highest priorities at USDA has been to help develop the next...

Food and Nutrition Trade

From Boots to Roots: Helping Women and Hispanic Vets Earn Ag, STEM Degrees

December 02, 2015 Scott Elliott, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

A professor in the Lone Star State is counting on two underrepresented groups to play a major role in the future of agriculture. Ken Mix, assistant professor of agriculture at Texas State University (TSU), is the project director of a new program called “Boots to Roots,” a program that helps female...

Initiatives

Mutually Beneficial Cooperation: The Three Sisters

November 30, 2015 Sam Rikkers, Acting Administrator, Rural Business Service, USDA Rural Development

USDA celebrates National Native American Heritage Month in November with a blog series focused on USDA’s support of Tribal Nations and highlighting a number of our efforts throughout Indian Country and Alaska. Follow along on the USDA blog . For centuries, Native Americans have cultivated the soil...

Initiatives Rural

Keeping U.S. Meat Competitive on the World Stage

November 30, 2015 Craig A. Morris, AMS Livestock, Poultry, and Seed Program Deputy Administrator

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has the vital mission of administering programs that help market American agricultural products competitively in the global marketplace. One of the ways AMS meets this mission is through the development of our own globally recognized meat standards...

Trade