August 2010

Last week I was in Kansas City to participate in the 9^th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum. AGOA seeks to strengthen the trade relationship between the United States and Africa by reducing tariffs on thousands of African products and providing technical assistance to boost African exports while stimulating economic growth and investment.  Each year, the AGOA forum alternates between Washington, D.C. and an African country host.  To celebrate AGOA’s tenth year, we decided to do something new, hosting the first half of the forum in Washington, DC and the second portion in Kansas City.

Robert Koch, President and General Manager of H&B Communications in Holyrood, Kansas, displays the story of his family owned rural telephone company on the wall behind his desk.  The mural, painted by an area artist, highlights the advancement in telecommunications since the company was founded in the 1950’s by Robert’s grandparents.  The historical image also features two of the three generations of family ownership including his mother and grandmother who served as telephone operators in the early decades of the company.

 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) made many significant investments in small private enterprises in rural America. Shooting Star is a farm in Northern California where that investment is paying dividends.

Funds from ARRA, better known as the Recovery Act, made it possible for Matt McCue and Lily Schneider to launch their new farming venture in verdant Suisun Valley. They took the name Shooting Star from a colorful flower growing on nearby hillsides. This young couple, both in their mid-20s, started their organic operation with the help of two Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans, one funded by the Recovery Act. And they are grateful.

USDA Administrator for Business and Cooperative Programs Judy Canales joined Nebraska Rural Development State Director Maxine Moul and staff earlier this month for Recovery Summer Tour stops in Pawnee City and the future Pawnee City Public Library.

As I have been discussing Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food with producers and local-food advocates across Iowa, one thing has become quite evident: access to capital is a huge barrier.  In fact, at a meeting last month to develop an Iowa Food and Farm Plan that will be presented to the state legislature, access to traditional financing was listed as a major obstacle.

What does it take to create a successful farmers market?

Just like a potluck, everyone should bring something to the table. A market manager is needed to help coordinate the market place.  A selection of vendors offering a variety of regional products is necessary.  Also a strong customer base interested in local fresh products is essential to its prosperity.

But that’s not all.

The silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta) is one of two native Oregon butterfly species listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Once found in coastal headlands from northern California to southern Washington, it has disappeared from all but a handful of grassland sites along the Oregon coast.

Written by Lisa Wallenda Picard, Food Safety and Inspection Service

Last night, USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a recall of frozen ground beef products. Working closely with our partners at California’s Department of Public Health, investigators were able to connect several illness with products sold.  Because E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium, USDA is asking consumers to check their freezer and immediately discard any product that is the subject of this recall.

Written by Ed Curlett, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Are Japanese beetles eating your roses?  Ever hear of the Mediterranean fruit fly?  Is the Emerald Ash Borer infesting your backyard tree?  All of these insects are plant pests from another part of the world, and they can harm you, your garden, our U.S. crops and even fragile ecosystems.

Written By Jessica L. Morrison; USDA Forest Service Conservation Education Intern

As a volunteer intern for the Conservation Education department of the Forest Service, I was not expecting much more than to be cooped up in a cubical somewhere; making copies and filing things away into nonexistence. But almost as soon as I arrived at the agency’s big red building, my supervisor made that wouldn’t happen. Besides getting to weed the USDA’s roof gardens and learning how to pet bumblebees, I was given the opportunity to tag along as the film crew of PollinatorLIVE interviewed the youngest beekeeper in the D.C. area.