An ethanol plant in Bairstown, Iowa, may soon begin producing fuel from waste materials.

After visiting a cutting-edge biofuels facility in rural Iowa recently, a group of USDA Rural Development state directors are thinking about the tremendous global implications of that plant. Read more »

FSA Youth Loan Recipient Tanner Johnson.

The life of a typical young boy is nothing compared to the daily routine of 11-year-old Farm Service Agency (FSA) Youth Loan recipient, Tanner Johnson.  Read more »

Just as adults receive nutritional benefits from a diet rich in seafood, babies and toddlers also need the omega-3 fatty acids for brain, nerve and eye development. Researchers at the University of Illinois and the Alaska’s Agricultural Research Service have developed baby food made from salmon to incorporate fish into children’s diets. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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.

As adults, we have heard for years about the value of adding fish to our diets. But have you ever stopped to consider the health benefits a diet rich in seafood can offer your children? Read more »

Farmer David Fink (left), owner of Heidel Hollow Farms shows State Director Tom Williams, how Rural Energy for America Funding will help reduce his farm’s energy costs.

I recently joined David Fink, at his Heidel Hollow Farm in Germansville. The family-owned, 1600 crop acre hay farm was awarded two USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants totaling $231,230. The grants will be used toward a solar energy project that will provide approximately 252,869 KW of electricity used in the hay compressing operation of the farm. David will also be able to replace one diesel engine with five electric motors, saving over 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year.  Both projects will significantly reduce the farm’s energy costs.  Read more »

USDA Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Programs, Judy Canales (center); Rural Development State Director, Clarence W. Hawkins (second from left) and other officials tour the Game Equipment manufacturing plant.

The Administrator for USDA’s Rural Business and Cooperative Programs, Judy Canales was in Louisiana recently to tour Game Equipment, a Rural Development –funded project in Donaldsonville.  Louisiana Rural Development State Director, Clarence W. Hawkins; Jeff Jobe, Regional Coordinator of USDA Business programs; Peachy Melancon, wife of Congressman Charlie Melancon; Anne Perry, Regional Representative of Louisiana Economic Development Office (LED); John Broussard, Business and Cooperative Programs  Director; Lee Jones, Assistant to State Director and lenders were also on the tour.  Read more »

Mississippi Rural Development State Director Trina N. George (center) stands with Congressional staff members who participated in a recent briefing on Rural Development 2010 programs.

As the end of a very successful Federal fiscal year approaches, Mississippi Rural Development State Director Trina N. George and her senior staff held a briefing for staff members for offices of Mississippi’s Congressional delegation in the offices of USDA Rural Development in Jackson.  Read more »