Rural America is full of promise, and USDA Rural Development is helping fulfill the promise and overcome the problems of the nation’s rural heartland. 

Rural Development was created in 1994 when rural economic and community development programs that had been administered among various USDA agencies were forged into a new mission area. With this action, the Farmers Home Administration, Rural Development Administration, Rural Electrification Administration and Agricultural Cooperative Service passed into history, but their tradition of service to America is being carried on by USDA Rural Development.

Each year, USDA Rural Development programs nationwide create or preserve tens of thousands of rural jobs and create or improve more than 65,000 units of quality rural housing. 

To multiply the impact of its programs, USDA Rural Development is working with state, local and Indian tribal governments, as well as private and nonprofit organizations and user-owned cooperatives.

USDA Rural Development Offices in Louisiana