Press Releases and Announcements

This section includes all current and archived press releases and announcements.

USDA Releases Agriculture Innovation Research Strategy Summary and Dashboard

(Washington, D.C., January 12, 2021) – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its U.S. Agriculture Innovation Strategy Directional Vision for Research (PDF, 4.8 MB) summary and dashboard that will help to guide future research decisions within USDA. The strategy synthesizes the information USDA collected as part of a public announcement earlier this year engaging the public on research priorities under the Agriculture Innovation Agenda (AIA). Read more.

EPA, Federal Family, and the National Academies Collaborate on Public Workshop to Review Federal Research on PFAS

WASHINGTON D.C (July 27, 2020) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has engaged the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to coordinate a Workshop on Federal Government Human Health Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Research. Aggressively addressing PFAS has been an active and ongoing priority for the EPA and entire federal family. As outlined in EPA’s PFAS Action Plan, this collaborative workshop will ensure coordination of PFAS research across the federal government. Read More...

USDA Casts Vision for Scientific Initiatives Through 2025

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today applauded the publication of the USDA Science Blueprint, which will serve as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) vision for and continued commitment to scientific research.

The USDA is strongly committed to ensuring the highest level of integrity in all aspects of the Department's engagement in scientific and technological activities and the use of scientific information in policy making. Departmental policies explicitly allow scientists and employees to communicate their scientific findings objectively without political interference or inappropriate influence, and it outlines procedures that help safeguard their rights to do so.

USDA Reaffirms Science-Based Decision Making at G20 Agricultural Chief Scientists Meeting

Two of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s top scientists today reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to science-based decision-making at the G20 Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) meeting held this week in Tokyo. Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, USDA’s Acting Chief Scientist and Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service and Dr. Scott Hutchins, USDA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE), led the U.S. delegation. The United States has participated in MACS meetings since 2012.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the results of the 2017 Census of Agriculture, spanning some 6.4 million new points of information about America’s farms and ranches and those who operate them, including new data about on-farm decision making, down to the county level. Information collected by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) directly from farmers and ranchers tells us both farm numbers and land in farms have ongoing small percentage declines since the last Census in 2012. At the same time, there continue to be more of the largest and smallest operations and fewer middle-sized farms. The average age of all farmers and ranchers continues to rise.

The federal Biomass Research and Development (BR&D) Board unveiled The Bioeconomy Initiative: Implementation Framework, a multi-agency strategy to accelerate innovative technologies that harness the nation’s biomass resources for affordable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. This interagency collaborative is co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

USDA's Economic Research Service has issued a revised schedule for the release of its data products following the recent lapse in federal funding.

Please see the updated schedule of ERS data products.

NASS reschedules reports affected by lapse in federal funding

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Agricultural Statistics Board has begun rescheduling reports that were affected by the lapse in federal funding. During the lapse, NASS was not able to collect data nor issue reports.

Learn more about which reports were rescheduled.

Census of Agriculture data release date changed due to lapse in federal funding

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Agricultural Statistics Board has begun rescheduling reports that were affected by the lapse in federal funding. During the lapse, NASS was not able to collect data nor issue reports.

The following report has been rescheduled and others will be announced as soon as they are determined:

2017 Census of Agriculture (Feb. 21) will be released April 11 at Noon ET, providing that funding remains available for Fiscal Year 2019.

Research by scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of Maryland released today sheds new light -- and reverses decades of scientific dogma -- regarding a honey bee pest (Varroa destructor) that is considered the greatest single driver of the global honey bee colony losses. Managed honey bee colonies add at least $15 billion to the value of U.S. agriculture each year through increased yields and superior quality harvests.

The microscopy images are part of a major study showing that the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) feeds on the honey bee’s fat body tissue (an organ similar to the human liver) rather than on its “blood,” (or hemolymph). This discovery holds broad implications for controlling the pest in honey bee colonies.

The study was published on-line Jan. 15 and in today’s print edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. An image produced by the ARS Electron and Confocal Microscopy Unit in Beltsville, Maryland is on the cover of today’s journal.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2018 – Research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) generated 166 new inventions and 68 patent applications in the 2017 fiscal year, according to a report issued today. USDA research innovations included tornado “safe rooms” built of cross-laminated wood, “sachets” that extend the life of produce, soybean germplasm with heat-tolerant genes, and tires of rubber made from a flowering desert shrub. The annual Technology Transfer Report lists technology produced through research either conducted or supported by USDA.