FSA

There has been little in Ruben Herrera’s life of late to celebrate. The past few years have been marred by drugs, prison, and homelessness. A military vet who was raised on a farm in Gilbert, Arizona, Ruben remembered the sweetness of his childhood rural lifestyle even as he struggled with the...

Makeover shows are now a staple of reality TV—we all like to see dramatic transformations. Did you know that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps make “conservation makeovers” happen on the land every day? Take Peyton and Myra Yancey’s fourth-generation 225-acre farm in...

The Rapid City, South Dakota, service center includes staff from Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), Rural Development (RD) and Pennington County Conservation District. Three years ago, the Rural Development staff contacted the Cornerstone Rescue Mission and...

During this year’s Feds Feed Families food drive, the Schuylkill County USDA Service Center in Pennsylvania beat its last year’s total of 11,084 pounds of donated food with a new total of 19,092 pounds. Feds Feed Families is a nationwide federal employee effort to re-stock the shelves of food banks...

Located on about a half an acre of land in Boise, Idaho is a USDA People’s Garden. This land wasn’t always so fruitful. In fact, it was barren for almost 30 years due to a lack of water available on the property. In 2010, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Idaho State Office teamed up with Amity United...

STEM – the fields of study in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. No one had trouble communicating despite the acronym overload at a STEM Internship Expo hosted recently at Phoenix College in Arizona. Several USDA agencies gathered under the shade of a canopy with tables packed with...

What do the National Resource Conservation Service , Farm Service Agency, Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), and 16 tons of watermelons have in common? These USDA agencies have joined together in Southeastern Missouri to donate literally tons of watermelon to the food banks in Sikeston and...

In keeping with President Obama and Secretary Vilsack’s efforts to improve the lives of Native Americans, USDA officials last month signed two Memorandums of Understanding with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The intention is to improve access to USDA programs by tribes and tribal members. The...

“How many of you here today have done business with or been helped by USDA in some way?” The master of ceremonies, Rita Frazer with RFD Radio, asked a crowd of 200 at the recent USDA 150 Years celebration in Illinois. The event took place on Ag Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. USDA was...

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) has a new mural added to its collection at its new Nebraska Agriculture Industry Education Center. The USDA mural depicts the various projects that can be accomplished through the programs and funding offered through the USDA Mission Areas. USDA...