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Success Stories

A mother and three daughters pose around a dining room table. There are lace curtains and blue wall in the background and some dishes on the table in the foreground.

“This is Home” – A Family Finds Their Forever Home in Calais, Maine

One of the first rooms Heather Gagne and her daughters began redecorating in their new home is the dining room, shown in the top photo. They have been busy repainting and making other updates. Raising a family in coastal Machias, Maine may sound lovely, but for Heather Gagne recent years proved stressful. There were few housing options in the Downeast community, and Heather was glad to find a rental home to…
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Use the filters below to find additional stories about how our programs have helped rural communities across the nation.

Search Results: 20 Stories
Chris Wall and his family in their cherry orchard

Keeping it local works best for Utah orchard farmer

Wall Brothers Orchards has been in the fruit growing business for more than 50 years, growing apples, peaches, and cherries in Payson, Utah. The highest quality fruit is selected to sell to distributors and consumers in Orchard Brothers Farmer’s Market. Every growing season a… [Read More]
Utah
Food SupplyGrantsLocal FoodsLocal ProduceValue Added
View of blue skies and Lake Superior with American flag in the middle.

From Blossom to Bottle, Superior View Farm Offers Views and Brews

Nestled on a hill two and a half miles from the shores of Lake Superior stands a 1920s mail order barn from Sears Roebuck & Company. Constructed with Western Fir, this big, red barn offers a hayloft with panoramic views of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands. That big, red… [Read More]
Wisconsin
BusinessLocal ProduceMade in Rural AmericaRural DevelopmentSmall BusinessValue Added
PA Business Installs Solar Panel With REAP Funding

REAP Funding Helps Pennsylvania Business Go Solar

Three Rivers Farm helps bring fresh, locally grown produce to the marketplace in a sustainable way. Nathan Holmes is the owner and founder of the business and knew early on that he wanted to help local farmers while fueling economic development in his community. As a Pittsburgh… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
Economic DevelopmentElectricGrantsLocal ProduceREAPSolar EnergySustainable/Organic Foods
finnriver coowners photo by james curtis. Three people smiling in front of fermenting equipment and bottles.

Sustainability at the Core

For many, apples are a sweet addition to a balanced diet. For Eric Jorgensen, one of the founders of Finnriver Farm & Cidery, apples are a way of life. Jorgensen and his partners started their small organic fruit and vegetable farm in Chimacum, Washington, on the state’s… [Read More]
Washington
EnergyGrantsLocal ProduceMade in Rural AmericaREAPRural DevelopmentSmall BusinessSolar EnergySustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added

What a great idea, how come nobody thought of this before?

The workers at Backyard Farms in Vado, New Mexico have barely begun another day of freeze-drying produce when another truck carrying hundreds of pounds of apples arrives to deliver its load. Since Backyard Farms began freeze drying food it’s become a beehive of activity. All… [Read More]
New Mexico
Food SupplyGrantsLocal Produce
Members of the Real Pickle Co-op stand on the roof of the building next to the new solar panels on a sunny day. Many are wearing coats and it looks chilly outside.

Solar: It’s a “Big Dill” for Real Pickles Cooperative

As USDA Rural Development (RD) highlights National Cooperative Month, one worker owned co-op in Massachusetts stands out as a model for sustainability, collaboration, and local food system resiliency. The saying goes “it’s not easy being green.” But for Real Pickles in… [Read More]
Massachusetts
CooperativesEnergyLocal FoodsLocal ProduceREAPRenewable EnergyRural DevelopmentSustainable/Organic Foods
York Glover, secretary of the Gullah Farmers’ Cooperative board of directors

Gullah Co-op: Growing Food, Preserving Culture

St. Helena Island, South Carolina, is home to the Black-owned Gullah Farmers’ Cooperative. The co-op is named after the Gullah Geechee, an African American community known for its careful preservation of African cultural heritage in South Carolina and Georgia.   “This… [Read More]
South Carolina
CooperativesLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic Foods
Gullah Farmers Processing Room

New Facility Will Help Small Provide a Means for Small Farmers to Package, Store and Distribute their Produce

Larry Harris and his son, Julian Harris of Harris Farms, LLC often struggled to find a way to package and distribute their fresh produce and increase their sales. Fortunately for them and many other farmers, USDA Rural Development (RD) assisted in finding a solution to this… [Read More]
South Carolina
BusinessLocal FoodsLocal Produce

Claybrook Farms Providing Beef and Jobs

Even though Claybrook Farms had a long standing reputation for its excellent Black Angus cattle breeding operation, the new owner wanted to broaden the farm’s horizon.The Turner family purchased the 700 acre Claybrook Farms in 1975 growing it to over 1,000 acres and adding the… [Read More]
Tennessee
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added

Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life

Town of Ashland City Mayor Richard Johnson was concerned about the sagging agricultural economy and lack of facilities for their Farmers Market. Reaching out last year to state and federal partners the Town of Ashland City received a USDA Rural Development Rural Business… [Read More]
Tennessee
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic Foods

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