When the U.S. Department of Agriculture was created in 1862, more than half of America’s labor force were farmers. From the start, USDA researchers collaborated with fruit and vegetable growers to help meet their biggest challenges. USDA scientists made tremendous contributions to fruit and vegetable farming, including:

• Determining the cause of the Irish potato famine;

• Domesticating the wild blueberry;

• Developing virus-free strawberries;

• Creating official USDA grade standards for fruits and vegetables; and,

• Guiding farmers out of the worst drought in U.S. history, the Dust Bowl.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                USDA formally established the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in 1953, and since then, ARS researchers have had a significant impact on the farming industry, even helping to save some industries from devastation. ARS National Program Leader Joseph Munyaneza pointed to the potato industry as a recent example.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

  One of the most pervasive issues across all commodities is climate change, noted Rinehart. Growers face challenges related to floods, drought, extreme weather, and unpredictable growing seasons, and must balance these challenges with efforts to become more environmentally friendly and sustainable to feed a growing population.

  “And that’s just our efforts in adapting to climate change,” he said. “There is a new push to mitigate climate change, which means these same cropping systems now need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon so farmers can get paid for agroecosystems services. It’s a tough challenge for researchers and farmers alike.”

  ARS fruit and vegetable breeders, soil ecologists, and other scientists are committed to developing crops that require less water, are more disease resistant, can be grown under a myriad of weather conditions, and enable carbon to return to the ground.