October 2011

USDA employees raised about 40 semi-trailers worth of food nationwide during the 3^rd annual Feds Feed Families Food Drive! Put another way, 40 semi-trailers is equivalent to an astonishing 1,791,393 pounds of food. This number shattered USDA’s already ambitious goal of raising 500,000 pounds of food this summer. Accomplishing this goal is a testament to the dedication of USDA employees around the country to feed our neighbors. Whether that is through the department’s 15 different nutrition assistance programs that touch the lives of one in four Americans, or from their own generosity, USDA employees are making a big difference during a time of need.

Just before Tropical Storm Irene hit Massachusetts, employees of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), including me, were informed of the storm’s potential impact on a dam rehabilitation project that was underway in Westborough, Mass., a suburban community west of Boston.

Fresh and healthy foods are the focus again as we celebrate National School Lunch Week.  The theme of this year’s celebration is “School Lunch – Let’s Grow Healthy,” and schools across the country are touting the many ways they are introducing fresh fruits and vegetables and healthier choices on their menus.

One hour of hiking through rock towers and outcroppings daubed with wildflowers bring you to a stone staircase leading up to the deck of the Kelly Butte Lookout perched at 5,379 feet.

When President Obama honored 94 researchers on Sept. 26 as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, chances are there was only one former pet-shop-manager-turned-zookeeper-turned-scientist in the bunch: Jonathan Lundgren.

Lundgren works at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory at Brookings, S.D., and he's also the ARS Early Career Scientist of 2010.  He calls himself a "predator ecologist," but he's also known within ARS as "the bug detective."

This past weekend, I traveled to Iowa to meet with local leaders about the urgent need to pass President Obama’s American Jobs Act. Just as in the other states I visited across the country this past month, the folks in Iowa said loud and clear that they are ready to see the economy flourish again and believe this Act will get us back to work.

La Agencia de Servicio Agrícola (“Farm Service Agency” o FSA por sus siglas en inglés) del Departamento de Agricultura de Estados Unidos (“United States Department of Agriculture” o USDA),  la agencia gubernamental a cargo de la distribución equitativa de programas y servicios agrícolas para agricultores y ganaderos estadounidenses, recientemente lanzó una cuenta de Twitter en español. Esperamos que Twitter nos ayude a comunicarnos con los agricultores y ganaderos hispanos en una manera nueva. Desde ahora en adelante, vamos a "tweet" la última información sobre los programas y préstamos agrícolas y las designaciones de emergencia. También proporcionaremos a través de Twitter noticias sobre el proceso de reclamaciones para agricultores Hispanos y mujeres agricultoras.

"Estamos entusiasmados de poder ofrecer un espacio que llegue a los Hispanos que no hablan inglés", dijo el Administrador de la FSA Bruce Nelson. "A medida que la población de agricultores y ganaderos Hispanos continúa creciendo, tenemos que crecer con ellos y proporcionar recursos para ayudar a educar e informar a todos nuestros clientes."

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA)—the agency responsible for equitably serving all farmers, ranchers, and agricultural partners in the United States with effective agricultural programs—recently launched a Spanish-language Twitter account. We hope it helps to reach Hispanic farmers and ranchers in a new way. We’ll “tweet” the latest information on farm programs, loan announcements and emergency designations. We’ll also issue updates via Twitter on the Hispanic and women farmers claims process.

“We are excited to offer a tool that reaches folks for whom English is not their first language,” said FSA Administrator Bruce Nelson. “As the population of Hispanic farmers and ranchers continues to grow, we need to grow with them and provide resources to help educate and inform all of our customers.”

When the final wall was raised on Jessi Mattila’s new home, it symbolized another step toward homeownership for the mother of three in Mountain Iron, Minn. It also symbolized the strength of a new partnership between USDA Rural Development and the Habitat for Humanity.

Rural Development is financing Mattila’s home through its direct home loan program and the North St. Louis County Habitat for Humanity is partnering with the Mattila family to provide support through the building process.

The United States proudly touts a long history of grain production and is the top exporter of grain in the world. Half of our wheat, almost 40 percent of soybeans and almost a fifth of our corn are exported.  That’s why for over a decade the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has been tracking and gathering datasets for grain transportation, including prices, deliveries, movements, sales and freight rates, and now, for the first time, we’ve released our historic data in an excel  format.