Blog Archives

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 journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.

Prescription drug and opioid misuse has become a tragic epidemic with tremendous social and economic impacts, affecting communities and families of all sizes and from all socio-economic backgrounds.

As Farm to School Month drew to a close in October, I spent a delightful day in Vermont visiting schools, meeting students and talking to the professionals responsible for serving wholesome, nutritious school meals.

While Veterans Day is an occasion set aside to recognize present and past service, it is nearly impossible to separate memories of lost comrades. We celebrate the living, reflect solemnly on generations now fading, and recall others whose voices are forever silent.

Everyone is busy these days, but there’s no busy like holiday busy. Now is the time to start making your plans so that your Thanksgiving dinner will be safe and stress-free.

“You can’t have a forest without a foundation of quality soil,” said Debbie Page-Dumroese, a soil scientist for the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Moscow, Idaho. That’s the lesson learned when hundreds of ponderosa pines were planted on rocky streambanks in national forests—only to die during their first year.

Sweet potatoes, which are native to the Americas, sustained our founding pioneers with beneficial nutrients like beta carotene, calcium, fiber, and a host of vitamins. No wonder it’s a holiday favorite, especially during Thanksgiving. But what makes a good sweet potato?

2018 was another record year of hurricanes and fires, which have inflicted huge economic losses to timber landowners as well as homeowners with landscape trees.

Many farmers till during the fall. This year, we encourage you not to. Leave it be, let it grow. Save time, money and improve your soil’s health by joining the farmers who observe “No-Till November.”

The summer of 2015 was exceptionally hot and dry in northern Idaho. Fuel moistures had dropped to alarming levels, and when a series of lightning storms moved across the region in early August, hundreds of fires flared up. A group of fast-moving and intense fires, which eventually became known as the Clearwater Complex, destroyed 62 homes and damaged another 211 structures. Overall, the fire encompassed more than 47,000 acres of both public and private land.