USDA Blog

Poultry owners all know how devastating a disease outbreak can be. Whether it’s a backyard farm with a few birds or a large commercial operation, losing your flock to disease causes more than just financial losses. That was never truer as we faced the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)...

Scientists from USDA developed the tools to mass produce penicillin, which was used for treating wounded soldiers over 70 years ago during World War II. Antibiotics are still important in treating microbial infection in humans, animals, and plants. However, microbes can develop resistance to some...

With Halloween a few weeks behind us, and the time for gathering family and friends to give thanks fast approaching, you might not realize scary creatures may still lurk outside… waiting for a free ride to your house or cabin… in your firewood!

Prescription drug and opioid misuse has become a tragic epidemic with tremendous social and economic impacts, affecting communities and families of all sizes and from all socio-economic backgrounds.

Last year, Secretary Perdue created the Rural Development Innovation Center, a team devoted to partnership development, regulatory reform, data analysis, and risk management. With a mission of coordinating resources and providing creative solutions for our rural customer, the Innovation Center is...

On September 12, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and its partners declared Monroe Township in Clermont County, Ohio, free of Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). This news came just months after APHIS declared Stonelick Township free of the beetle in March.

When you travel, it’s likely you’ll want to bring home more than just memories of your trip. If you are someone who likes to bring home souvenirs, mementos, food gifts or other objects from overseas, there’s some important information you need to know. Selecting the wrong kinds of items could bring...

Everyone knows about the Olympics, but did you know that there’s an Olympics-of-sort just for equestrian sports? Every four years, the world’s best competitors in a variety of equine sport disciplines get together for a spectacular event that awards 30 gold medals over the course of 13 days...

About one mouthful in three in our diets directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination. That makes bees critically valuable to humans’ existence. For this reason the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) documents issues affecting honey bee...

In small towns from Maine to California, access to reliable, high-speed internet is a foundation for rural prosperity. From quality health care to advanced education and precision ag technology at the local farm equipment dealer, e-connectivity is a lifeline to the modern economy. And, yet we know...