USDA Blog

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented several customer experience (CX) improvements since President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government in December 2021. The executive order directed all...

From September 15 through October 15, we acknowledge Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating equity champions in the Hispanic agricultural community. One of these champions is David Josué Carrasquillo-Medrano, a member of USDA Equity Commission’s Rural Community Economic Development (RCED)...

On February 22-23, agriculture stakeholders gathered at USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum to discuss current and emerging issues affecting U.S. agricultural production and international trade.

What are the macro trends in food production and policy? In this blog, USDA Senior Economist Anne Effland gives an overview of how consumers are shaping the way food is grown and how USDA is supporting the evolving food system. Read more in the article Effland co-authored with Carolyn Dimitri in the...

Remember “plastics make it possible!” – the advertisement campaign from the 1980s? There’s a new kind of plastic in town 30 years later – bioplastics.

Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent the following message to all USDA employees: I want to take this opportunity on my final day at USDA to express my profound gratitude to the people who work at USDA. Every day, nearly 90,000 people leave their families and the comfort of their home to do...

According to recent data on local food marketing practices, 167,000 U.S. farms locally produced and sold food through direct marketing practices, resulting in $8.7 billion in revenue. Pennsylvania led the U.S. in the number of farms selling directly to consumers, with more than 6,000 operations...

If there is one word that best embodies agriculture, it is entrepreneurship. Over the course of my time at USDA, I’ve had the chance to meet with farmers, ranchers and food business of all sizes and in all parts of the country. The faces of these entrepreneurs and their innovative strategies and...

In agriculture, retirement can mean something quite different compared with other U.S. households. Often, our parents and senior relatives on the farm or ranch are far from “retired,” and, in fact, remain active participants in daily operations and decisions.

I would like to congratulate all who work at USDA for the incredible improvement in our ranking in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government. In 2016, for the first time, we have moved into the Top 10 Best Places to Work among large Federal agencies. When I became Secretary of Agriculture in...