USDA Blog

Clean water is a priority for all of us. When farmers manage nutrients, they are also helping to minimize the runoff of nutrients into local streams and rivers.

For farmers across the country, it comes as no surprise to hear that conservation tillage practices – particularly continuous no-till – can save time and money compared to conventional tillage. The potential benefits of no-till are well-documented, from improving soil health to reducing annual fuel...

Did you know that the wild turkey nearly triumphed over the bald eagle as the symbol of America? Yes, it’s true. Proponents as luminous as Benjamin Franklin once advocated for the turkey to be the symbol on the Great Seal of The United States. That’s all history now, but the turkey remains of strong...

Thousands of veterans leave the military every year, but there’s a new “service” they can provide. Over the next few decades, the world will need to increase its food production to keep up with a growing population. Career options available to American vets in the agriculture sector include owning...

A rising sun chases away the darkness across the landscape while the hard working men and women start another day to accomplish the tasks that keep America strong. Whether on the battlefield or in the corn field, these dedicated individuals approach life and work in similar ways. That’s why USDA is...

Did you know it’s travel season for monarch butterflies? Each fall, millions of these black-and-orange butterflies journey south from their summer quarters in the United States to their winter homes, which for some is as far away as Mexico.

John and Dorie Belisle own and operate BelleWood Acres in northwest Washington State, near the Canadian border. The Belisles and their family planted their first apple orchard in 1996 and have 31 acres of high density trees, which pencils out to about 25,000 trees.

Private landowners in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana have protected 700,000 acres of critical wetlands in the past 25 years, which accounts for one-third of all wetlands under USDA conservation easements in the country. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and several...

Catastrophic, ferocious, devastating and unprecedented are just some of the words still being used to describe the hurricane known as Harvey that slammed Texas’ coast in late August.

David Hemme of Sweet Springs, Missouri, scrolls down through a German webpage on his smartphone. The insignia of “Hemme Milch” anchors the top of the page, a company owned and operated by Hemme’s distant relatives in Germany.