The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agriculture in the Classroom Web site(last mentioned in the October 27, 1999 Scout Report for Science & Engineering) has recently been updated. One of the current features, Listening to the Prairie - Farming in Nature's Image, is a useful resource which has many lesson plans and classroom activities for all grades and can be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat...

If you never thought a government periodical could make compelling reading, you should give Amber Waves a look. It happens to be a publication of the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) and it deals with the economics of food, farming, natural resources, and rural America. On its homepage, visitors can look over the Features, Findings & Statistics area, which...

Since 1971 the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) has focused on improving "the quality of life for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families by providing advocacy for the member organizations that serve them." Upon visiting the website, visitors will see that 2011 is the Year of the Farmworker Child, and the AFOP website has a section called "Children in the Fields"...

In keeping with the tradition of "The Wisconsin Idea," the Babcock Institute for International Dairy Research and Development Web site features material that will be of great interest to the general public, researchers, and those directly involved in the dairy industry. Pertinent sections on the site include areas devoted to recent publications dealing with topical dairy research, the Institute's...

The National Agricultural Library (NAL) has posted this page to help citizens learn more about bioterrorism and agriculture. The page consists of pointers to resources spanning a range of issues related to agriculture and terrorism, including conference proceedings, articles from government branches, government alerts, and contact information. The site is divided into six categories: Alerts,...

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) was formed in 1972 as a result of a meeting sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council. CAST's mission is to "assemble, interpret, and communicate credible science-based information regionally, nationally, and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector and the...

As their mission statement states, the Center for Rural Affairs is "committed to building communities that stand for social justice, economic opportunity, and environmental stewardship." One of the highlights of the Center's site is their monthly newsletter that offers a range of pertinent news stories dealing with national events affecting rural America. For persons in rural areas, the Rural...

What did newspapers mean to the rural frontier? They were (and are) vital sources of information about everything from big city life to the changing rural landscape around farmers and other folks far from city life. This digital newspaper collection from the University of Illinois was made possible with funding from a wide range of organizations, including the Institute of Museum and Library...

On March 7, US Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced a new proposal for uniform and consistent national standards for organic food. This proposal would establish a clear national organic standard that reflects concerns expressed in the more than 250,000 comments received after the initial organic proposal made in December 1997. Briefly, the new standards would ban the use of genetic...

A division of the US Department of Agriculture, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has a mission to provide leadership and partner with private land owners to "help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment." Their home page is useful in that regard as it currently provides significant information on topics related to the 2002 Farm Bill, water...