Over 250 people gathered at the Miles Smith Farm in Loudon, New Hampshire last week to celebrate USDA’s 150th Anniversary on a hot, humid summer day.
![on left - Judith Canales, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development in front row with Gregg MacPherson, Area Director and Molly Lambert, State Director – on right – congressional staff Ivey Jones-Congressman Bass, Sean Thomas-Congressman Guinta, Matt Leahy-Senator Shaheen, and Simon Thompson-Senator Ayotte with community attendees at the New Hampshire 150th USDA Anniversary Observance.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121021064024im_/http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/7727000548_b0d083a1de.jpg)
on left - Judith Canales, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development in front row with Gregg MacPherson, Area Director and Molly Lambert, State Director – on right – congressional staff Ivey Jones-Congressman Bass, Sean Thomas-Congressman Guinta, Matt Leahy-Senator Shaheen, and Simon Thompson-Senator Ayotte with community attendees at the New Hampshire 150th USDA Anniversary Observance.
The hosts – Carole Soule and Bruce Dawson graciously opened their farm as the perfect location for this event. After driving up a narrow road, we discovered a scurry of activity as guests were welcomed and directed to a field set up with tents, farmer market vendors, informational booths and people. Read more »
Nearly 150 years ago – on July 2, 1862, just two months after the creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture – President Lincoln signed another historic measure, the Morrill Act, which created the land grant university system.
Over the years, land grant colleges and universities have had a tremendously positive impact on our nation, graduating more than 20 million students. And in partnership with USDA, more than 100 land-grant institutions and other research partners have helped conduct the groundbreaking research that remains the envy of the world. Read more »
Many children believe their food comes from the grocery store. But a class of 23 Mississippi second-graders knows better than that – the delicious food they love starts with a seed.
![Students from Madison Avenue Elementary plant a People’s Garden in Mississippi in honor of the upcoming 150th anniversary of USDA.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121021064024im_/http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7099/7196387496_37b08cb4cf.jpg)
Students from Madison Avenue Elementary plant a People’s Garden in Mississippi in honor of the upcoming 150th anniversary of USDA.
Students from Madison Avenue Elementary visited a new People’s Garden at an office of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and planted seeds of squash, watermelon, pumpkin, cucumber and, of course, the “Abraham Lincoln” tomato. Read more »
On May 15, we will recognize the 150th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On that date in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law an act of Congress establishing USDA.
Two and a half years after he established the Department, in what would be his final annual message to Congress, Lincoln called USDA “The People’s Department.”
President Lincoln knew the importance of agriculture to our prosperity – particularly at a time when about half of all Americans lived on the farm. And while that number today stands at about 2 percent, our values are still rooted in rural America. Read more »
A blueprint guides the decisions of an entire team of craftspeople toward a common goal of creating something that serves a purpose and withstands time and the elements. Over several decades now, U.S. agriculture has become the second most-productive sector of our economy. Today, net farm income is at record levels while farm debt has been cut in half. Overall, American agriculture supports 1 in 12 jobs in the United States and provides American consumers with 83 percent of the food we consume. In other words, U.S. agriculture is both resilient and a productive economic driver.
While America’s farmers, ranchers and growers are the primary architects of U.S. agriculture’s success, there is large team in place that helps to drive the success of our agriculture industry, and USDA’s Farm Service Agency is a proud member of that team. And FSA’s guide in building a more modern, efficient service organization that is closely in tune with the long-term vitality of rural America is the Blueprint for Stronger Service. Read more »
![President Abraham Lincoln creator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121021064024im_/http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6053/6302908371_bfc2fd63fc.jpg)
President Abraham Lincoln creator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On February 12, President Lincoln’s birthday, let’s take a moment to appreciate the many impressive accomplishments that our Nation’s 16th President achieved during his four years in office. Many of those accomplishments have a direct tie-in to the success of American agriculture. Lincoln’s birthday is especially important to us because 2012 is the 150th anniversary of USDA. Lincoln signed into law an act of Congress establishing the department in 1862. Read more »