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The Mayberry farming operation in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., consists of nearly 1,200 acres of soybean and corn row crops, along with more than 200 beef cattle and hay. Eric, Ethan and Eddy Mayberry exemplify farming through their dedication, passion and three generations of family farming tradition. The Mayberry’s are avid supporters and educators of agriculture through active participation with the Farm Service Agency County Committees, Farm Bureau Board, and 4-H.

In the hustle and bustle of working for the WIC program in the Southwest Region, I travel quite often, attending meetings and ensuring logistics much like many of my fellow federal and state co-workers. Recently I had the privilege to attend the Pottawatomie County Farmers Market five-year anniversary in Shawnee, OK. Having grown up in a very rural town, representing FNS was a learning experience that reminded me of home. The event was a total success, as the market was full of people including farmers, seniors, families and children. Celebrating five years of service, the event included live music, family and children’s activities, and most important of all: fresh fruit and vegetables.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

On July 20, the Forest Service announced a new system for integrating consideration of climate change into agency operations. This system is based on our Strategic Framework for Responding to Climate Change, adopted by leadership in 2008, and tiers to the new USDA strategic plan that emphasizes forest resilience to climate change.

I was delighted to be in China last week to officially open USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service’s new Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Shenyang. This new office will serve as a bridge between American and Chinese businesses, opening opportunities for trade and collaboration between our two nations.

The Town of Newburg was awarded a total of $2,875,000 for the Fellowsville, York Run, and State Route 26 Water Extension Project.  USDA Rural Development Community Facilities is providing a $400,000 loan, $941,000 grant, and a $185,000 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) grant to the project.  Also, a Small Cities Block grant for $1,000,000 and a West Virginia Infrastructure Council grant for $349,000 are assisting in the total project cost.

Recently tomato farmers from across the Bay State converged on Boston City Hall Plaza seeking top tomato bragging rights at the 26^th Annual Tomato Festival.  I joined a panel of food writers, chefs, cookbook authors, grocers, and state officials as we readied our score sheets.

If you want more proof that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has produced major economic improvement in America, check out the report issued Friday by Vice President Biden.  It highlights some of the most innovative Recovery Act projects undertaken across America and I’m proud to say that a number of those were supported by USDA.

The Forest Service played an integral role with USDA and DOI being selected as recipients of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Award for Federal Preserve America Accomplishment.

On Sept. 16, both Departments were  recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. for their outstanding support for Colorado Preserve America Youth Summits over the past five years provided by the Forest Service, National Park Service (NPS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

We recently marked the final day of Feds Feed Families Campaign.

José Otero-García, USDA Rural Development State Director for Puerto Rico, led the efforts of the Campaign that included the help from our sister Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). We collected 500 pounds of food and more is on the way.

In the 14^th century the Hisat’sinom people, ancestors of the Hopis, found themselves on the sandy slopes of a rich flood plain while on their migration north. This beautiful location in the Little Colorado River Valley was so compelling that the people stayed and established a community they called Homolovi—“Place of the Little Hills”.