USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has recently released the _Agricultural Fact Book 1996_ . Provided by the USDA Office of Communications, it offers basic facts about many aspects of U.S. agriculture, including the U.S. farm sector, the structure of U.S. agriculture, and rural America. It contains short entries and brief statistical breakdowns, and is meant to be used as a ready...

Progressive Farmer magazine, established in 1886, now has a presence on the Web. Their stories cover all the major crops and livestock, but also include information about other topics important to rural readers such as the environment, rural health care, and farm safety. Many stories "celebrate rural living and the outdoors. Progressive Farmer says its goal is to help readers make money, save...

The Economic Research Service (ERS) is one of four agencies in the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area of the US Department of Agriculture addressing issues of efficiency, efficacy and equity in agriculture and rural development. Recently, ERS has relaunched their site, emphasizing ease of accessibility to publications such as research reports, periodicals, maps, photos and fact...

This EconEdLink lesson plan from the National Council on Economic Education focuses on how George Washington Carver helped save agriculture in the South by creating a national demand for peanut products. While the discussion questions that accompany the lesson focus mainly on economic concepts, the lesson as a whole provides an excellent, interdisciplinary way to learn about nitrogen fixation and...

Edited by Mary E. Burfisher and Elizabeth A. Jones, US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (described in the July 2, 1998 Scout Report for Business & Economics), the report Regional Trade Agreements and US Agriculture analyzes the "trade-creating" and "trade-diverting" impacts of US participation in regional trade agreements (RTAs). Twelve chapters cover the North American Free...

Daniel Bromley, Chair of the University of Wisconsin Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, gave the Fellows Address at the American Agricultural Economic Association 1997 Annual Meeting. The full text of his address, Rethinking Markets, urging economists to be more "modest about the alleged magic of the market," can be found on the University of Wisconsin AAE site.

State extension programs are a great way for interested parties to learn about everything from community development to integrated pest management. These publications from the Virginia Cooperative Extension cover these topics, and dozens more. Most of the papers here are available in one or more formats, and along with more practical publications, there are a few that may inspire a new hobby or...