USDA Blog

Success in any part of agriculture today means being able to successfully navigate local, state and federal laws and regulations — from water rights to food safety regulations, from crop insurance to organic certification. To help people find such legal information, the National Agricultural Library...

“If you were to tell me three years ago that in two years, I would be camping a couple feet away from a glacier and kayaking next to icebergs, I would tell you that you are out of your mind,” said Isabel Azpilcueta. But life takes us in unexpected directions, and that is exactly what Isabel – a...

Trees are often referred to as the lungs of the earth, providing not only the oxygen we need to breathe but a filter to clean our air and water. Trees from forested lands provide timber for our homes, food for people and wildlife, protection from weather extremes and, in urban and rural settings...

Day and night, pollinators are at work all around us—and it's not just honey bees. Did you know that pollinators are responsible for one out of three bites of food we eat? If you'd like to learn more, we've pulled together five blogs from 2015 highlighting some surprising facts about these busy...

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...

The need for food and shelter for wildlife to survive is basic, particularly for sage grouse living in a post-wildfire landscape in western states. The U.S. Forest Service is helping this upland game bird survive by growing about 3 million sagebrush shrubs a year to restore the area’s dry, grassy...

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...

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...

When U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan asked Anna Devolld, a ten year old child from Alaska, to flip the switch, a momentary hush came across the crowd as thousands of lights on a massive tree illumined the West Lawn just below both Houses of Congress. More than a year of planning went...

Thanksgiving is finally over, and now comes the biggest weekend for holiday shopping. According to the National Retail Foundation, the average shopper spends about $380 from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. When planning out your battle strategy shopping budget, you may forget to account for the meals...