Talk:United States Department of Agriculture

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Food and drink Start‑class Low‑importance

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The price of milk

I was surprised that milk jumped from $2.50 to $4.00, locally.

I learned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets the minimum price of milk.

K-EYE: Milk Prices Could Hit Record Highs helped me to understand how this works.

Other people might be interested as well. [Unsigned comment by User:216.254.10.130 04:20, 15 May 2004]

APHIS

According to their homepage APHIS is still with in USDA. No mention of DHS. This is why I reverted last change. Is this incorrect? ike9898 17:57, Jun 4, 2004 (UTC)

APHIS lost its border inspectors, including the "Beagle Brigade", to DHS (specifically, to CBP), but the bulk of APHIS employees remain in APHIS, which is part of USDA. Amustard (talk) 05:15, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

POV-Section

I added the tag to the "History" section because of the description of the Great Depression, i.e. "this department was wonderful and did so much great stuff," which reads like an advertisement for food bureaucracies. Paul 02:59, 18 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's less a question of netrality than of poor style. I'd say fix 'er up if you know what you're talking about. [Unsigned comment by User:Btwied 19:27, 15 June 2006]

This article in general is not neutral at all. It reads like what you would find on the USDA's website and not like what you would find in an encyclopedia. [Unsigned comment by User:12.35.165.82 11:03, 16 October 2006]

Not very neutral.

The USDA's National Animal Identification System...that section needs to be looked at. [Unsigned comment by User:Adam850 21:17, 1 October 2006]

The accusation on discrimination of African Americans is incendiary and needs a citation to be more credible. [Unsigned comment by 66.149.104.2 13:08, 18 June 2007]

The section regarding "factory farms" should be edited. Nothing about farming is "factory." A factory operates with steady, predicable, inputs and outputs. Nothing about farming has such. It is a farm, maybe large, but not a factory. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.169.182.120 (talk) 02:39, 14 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Factory farms are only mentioned once in the article. What section are you referring to? I added a wikilink to factory farm so that anyone who is unclear about the term can learn how it is defined. Your points may be correct, but just because something is called a "hot dog" doesn't mean it's hot or a dog. Whether it makes sense or not, factory farm is an accepted usage. Bob98133 (talk) 16:49, 14 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Am I (or my computer) crazy?

I've searched and searched the edit article box, but I can't figure out where the gigantic (I'd estimate 10-50,000px) stop hand.svg image is coming from at the bottom of this article. Maybe it's not really there, but I can see it. Maybe I should take a screenshot.... Xaxafrad 02:14, 5 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yup, I should've taken a screenshot. I reverted to the previous version, and the hand was gone, so I re-added that contributor's edit manually. It doesn't show up in the history, either. Some kind of weird wiki error, I guess. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Xaxafrad (talk • contribs) 02:21, 5 December 2006 (UTC).[reply]

Rural Development

I tried to ad a little bit of information about Rural Development, however I am not all that familiar with the organization. Most of what I put up was taken from their web site "about us" section. Any updates would be helpful. Thetippys 18:02, 28 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

place coordinates

adding a link to "coordinates" of place using wikimapia so people can know where it is. Any other links to other similar sites welcome. Logictheo 08:23, 20 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've moved it to the External Links section. Melchoir 07:14, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Pigford Case

There is a comment in the article with no citation concerning discrimination by the FSA (part of the USDA) against African-American farmers. It appears that this is lesser known (I had never heard of it), but is at least partially true. However, Googling for some information results in various propaganda sites on both sides and some law documentation I don't fully understand. Perhaps someone with more knowledge in this area than I could help in adding information to the appropriate articles. --Southpaw018 12:09, 23 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Pigford Case is quite well documented. Perhaps somebody with a law background would be the best person to address this. Amustard (talk) 05:17, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

========

The Pigford article states "Allegations have been made" but the contributor doesn't provide any sources.

The referenced Pigford case is fairly well documented on Wikiepdia, Pigford v. Glickman.

Of all the work the USDA has done over the years, this Wikipage has been compromised by political crap. I am not saying that Pigford is political or crap, some contributors edited this page for political crap.

Sorry folks, I did not intend to offend.

The One and Only Worldwise Dave Shaver 09:39, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

to mention its pictures

they take the best public domain pictures, (listed at http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?offset=&limit=50&target=Template%3APD-USGov-USDA-ARS&title=Special%3AWhatlinkshere&namespace=6), probably it doesn't matter. --Andersmusician VOTE 02:49, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Moved section here

The section Energy efficiency, renewable energy and global warming has been moved here as it seemed like a news report. If someone's able to rewrite it in a way that doesn't seem like news or "recentism", please do:

The USDA announced on August 27, 2008 that 639 farms and rural businesses in 43 states and the Virgin Islands have been selected to receive $35 million in grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. While many of the awards typically go towards more energy-efficient grain dryers, the USDA notes that a farm in Iowa will use its grant to replace a propane heating system with a geothermal heating system, while a firm in Louisiana will purchase energy-efficient electric motors for an irrigation well.[5] The grants and loans are awarded through the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program of the USDA Rural Development office. The program was created by Section 9006 of the 2002 Farm Bill and will be expanded next year under the 2008 Farm Bill.[5]

One reference was used in this section: <ref name="apps1.eere.energy.gov">{{cite web | url = http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=11958 | title = USDA Awards $35 Million for Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy | date = September 3, 2008 | work = Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy | publisher = [[United States Department of Energy]] | accessdate = February 15, 2009}}</ref>

External Link Suggestion

There is currently a Search by Nutrient and Search by Food features on the External Links for this page. I suggested a Search by Health Condition (and offered a link https://www.personalremedies.com/PS.asp which is a free site) but someone removed it. Frankly Search by Health Condition is more important than the other two because more people are concerned about what to eat for their chronic condition(s) than they are just interested in learning about nutrients or nutrient contents of a food item.

I am new to editing this site and perhaps I am missing something. Can someone explain to me why my suggestion was ignored? Thanks.Spainbeach (talk) 00:30, 11 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Sherrod

Do we need such a long section for a non-controversy over a minor employee? Sceptre ^(talk) 01:25, 21 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Shirley Sherrod

Under this title of USDA, why is there a section devoted to Shirley Sherrod?

I hope the Wikies delete this self-serving entry because it is not relevant to the main topic of USDA.

I don't know if she has her own entry the the Wiki, but that is where her commentary should be.

Most contributors to Wiki understand that commentary should be posted on Discussion page and most Wiki users understand, to alter the main page is a serious issue.

If I didn't respect Wikipedia, I could go to any page and alter it.

I don't care much for Obama, I could go to the page that references him and alter it. BUT I DON'T because I respect Wikipedia.

Dear wiki-people, please correct the USDA title page and delete that section. IF Shirley Sherrod wants to "comment" on any issue, it should be on the Discussion page.

The title page is, "just the facts, ma'am"

Thanks Wiki people.

The One and Only Worldwise Dave Shaver 09:19, 21 July 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaxdave (talk • contribs)