USDA Blog

Jim Hook, owner of the Recapture Lodge and volunteer firefighter in Bluff, Utah, has been working for years to manage and restore the riparian habitat on his property along the San Juan River in southeast Utah. Where the Cottonwood Creek and the San Juan River meet, Hook is working with USDA’s...

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio. In the agriculture industry, having a green thumb can help businesses improve their yield and their bottom line. As good...

Last week, Secretary Vilsack went to Michigan State University to deliver a major climate address. Among those in attendance was 15 year old Ellie Hohenstein, a freshman at Annandale High School in Fairfax County, VA. She provides this blog concerning her experiences as she accompanied her father to...

As registered dietitian nutritionists, we love to see MyPlate in action! MyPlate was created as a familiar mealtime symbol that helps people learn about choosing a variety of healthy foods within all the food groups. It is a foundation which can be built upon to reach any audience where they are and...

Last fall, the results of trapping for the European Grapevine Moth (Lobesia botrana or EGVM) in California were recounted during a conference call for the partners working to eradicate this invasive insect: zero, zero, zero, one moth. We’ve gone from more than 100,000 EGVM trapped in 2010 to just...

As a young man, Tom Tidwell had a summer job with the Forest Service as a member of a Youth Conservation Corps crew. Today, he is Chief of the Forest Service, overseeing an agency of forty thousand employees that honors a mission to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s...

Many children look forward to gathering pumpkins in the fall. For some Native American children, another well-loved tradition is gathering maple syrup in early spring. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Nutrition (NIFA) provides grants to support a unique camp where reservation youth can...

Are you in the market for data covering locally and regionally produced agricultural products? You are not alone. Consumer demand for local and regional food products continues to soar, with retail sales at an estimated $6.1 billion in 2012. Thanks to support from the 2014 Farm Bill, USDA Market...

Jamie Scott participated in a roundtable on climate change and agriculture with USDA Secretary Vilsack in East Lansing, Michigan on April 23rd, 2015. Mr. Scott is the Chairman of the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District and currently serves as the Vice-President of the Indiana...

America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners understand the threats that a changing climate can have on their operations and on their bottom line. As the world warms, that warming triggers many other changes to the Earth’s climate, including an increase in extreme events. Over the last 50 years...