Sarah Gonzalez

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30- The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, an area under pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce water pollution, will become a site of conservation experimentation through a collection of grants announced by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service on Aug. 22.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22--USDA announced today that 18 telecommunication recipients will share more than $103 million in funding for 23 projects to provide broadband services to rural communities.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19—The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report detailing how farmers altered their land-use decisions in response to the higher demand for corn-based ethanol. Rising gasoline prices and new bioenergy policies stimulated the increase in ethanol production by nine bil

ATKINSON, Ill. Aug. 17--President Obama completed his three-day Midwest bus tour today in Ill. During the town hall meeting in Atkinson at Wyffel Hybrids, a corn seed manufacturer, Obama addressed questions from the audience about deficit reduction, regulation and ethanol.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2011– At the end of the Obama Administration’s week-long focus on the rural economy and the White House Rural Council, Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack announced today another federally funded project for the nation’s rural communities.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16--The Department of Agriculture is partnering with the Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy to deliver $510 million in the next three years for the production of bio-based jet and diesel fuel.

DES MOINES, Aug. 15- In honor of its 100th anniversary, the Iowa State Fair butter cow is now duplicated out of more motley material—thousands of cans of farmer-produced food. “Together We CAN!” is an exhibit hosted by the Iowa Food & Family Project (Iowa FFP) at the 2011 Iowa State Fair. Celebr

NASHVILLE, Aug. 15- The first Land & Wildlife Expo in Nashville, Tennessee served as an opportunity to reach thousands of landowners with conservation and land management practices, said Dave White, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

WASHINGTON, August 15, 2011—USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon discussed the reforms to school meals through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 today. As part of these reforms, students will receive one more cup per day of fruits and vegetables as well as more whole grains.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced $17 million more toward emergency aid in the Horn of Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) today. Of that amount, $12 million is designed to specifically help the people of Somalia.