Skip to main content
Skip to main content

USDA Blog


Showing: 11 - 20 of 23 Results
Applied Filters

Measuring Rural Prosperity

January 16, 2018 Jim Barrett, Public Affairs Officer, National Agricultural Statistics Service

In December, NASS launched the 2017 Census of Agriculture, which counts all American producers across the country – about 3 million currently – every five years. Almost 35,000 of those producers instead received the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), which looks at the financial health...

Research and Science

Sustaining the Forests of the Mississippi Headwaters

January 12, 2018 Zoe Hoyle, Research and Development, USDA Forest Service

The headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River flow through Camp Ripley, a military facility that serves as the National Guard training center for Minnesota and six surrounding states. Straddling 50 miles of the Mississippi River, the area also includes the watersheds of four major tributary rivers...

Forestry Conservation

The Rancher in the Rye

January 11, 2018 Spencer Miller, NRCS

Buying more land isn’t always an option. But often, you can make your existing land go much further. By removing invasive weeds, seeding rye grass and adopting rotational grazing, Oregon rancher Jeff Baxter was able to produce a whole lot more on the same number of acres.

Conservation

Opioid Crisis Affects All Americans, Rural and Urban

January 11, 2018 Ahlishia Shipley, Division of Family and Consumer Sciences, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Every day, more than 90 Americans die after overdosing on opioids. That’s three people every hour. As if the death rate wasn’t bad enough, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a...

Research and Science

In Conversation with #WomeninAg: Sandra Reynolds

January 10, 2018 Tomasina Brown, Special Assistant, Office of Communication

Every month, USDA shares the story of a woman in agriculture who is leading the industry and helping other women succeed along the way. This month, we hear from Sandra Reynolds. Sandra is a Special Agent with the Executive Protection Detail for the Office of the Secretary.

Initiatives

Harvey was Strong, Texas is Stronger

January 09, 2018 Melissa Blair, Natural Resources Conservation Service

No one knew when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 25 as a Category 4 hurricane that it would be one of the most devastating hurricanes to make landfall in the United States. Texans along the Gulf Coast saw cities demolished, peak wind gusts as high as 130 mph, unprecedented rainfall...

Conservation

What’s Cooking? USDA Mixing Bowl’s #2017BestNine

January 09, 2018 Mary Herrup, RD, Nutritionist, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service

As 2017 has come to a close, the What’s Cooking team at USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is joining the #2017BestNine fun – a social media trend where users share their favorite or most popular moments of the year – by taking a look back at our top-viewed recipes. From quinoa to quesadillas, we are...

Food and Nutrition

USDA Agencies Work Together to Eradicate an Old Foe: the Screwworm

January 09, 2018 Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Administrator, Agricultural Research Service

Early in October 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was faced once again with New World screwworm, which had been eradicated from the United States more than three decades ago. Infestation of this flesh-eating parasite was confirmed in deer from the National Key Deer Refuge in the...

Research and Science

The Revolutionary Role of Wood in our Future

January 05, 2018 David N. Bengston, Research and Development, USDA Forest Service

Some people are just way ahead of their time. In the mid-20 th century, when most people thought of wood as an archaic and low-tech material, Egon Glesinger foresaw the revolutionary role it would play in our future, described in his book The Coming Age of Wood.

Forestry

What’s Next for Agriculture in the World Trade Organization?

January 05, 2018 Jason Hafemeister, Trade Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Following the conclusion of the 11 th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference last month, it’s time for WTO members to reflect, reset, and reinvigorate the agriculture negotiations to tackle the real-world international trade concerns that face agriculture today.

Trade