Find Rural Health Programs and Resources
The USDA has many programs and resources that can support rural communities improve their health and quality of life, but many programs do not have “health” in the title or description. To help rural community leaders and others to identify which USDA programs and resources can help improve a rural community’s health, a USDA Rural Health Inventory tool has been developed.
This tool is a curated library of active USDA’s programs and resources that support rural health. You can use the filters at the top to simplify your search in finding the programs and resources available by Sub-Agency, Program Type, or Assistance Type. Select the Rurality Requirement box to show programs and resources eligible for rural communities only.
Rural health programs are the emphasis, but this library is inclusive of all health programs.
Buy, build, improve, repair or rehabilitate a rural home as the applicant’s permanent residence. Safe, well-built, affordable homes for very-low- and low-income rural Americans.
To facilitate housing, community facilities, and community and economic development projects. Technical assistance grants of $50,000 to $300,000 to develop the capacity and ability of awardees to carry out needed projects.
This program provides affordable financing to develop housing for year-round and migrant or seasonal domestic farm laborers.
Repair and rehabilitate housing owned or occupied by very-low- and low-income rural families. To operate a program that finances repair and rehabilitation activities for single-family, and rental and cooperative properties that house very-low and low-income tenants.
Guarantees on loans to build or preserve affordable housing for very-low to moderate-income tenants. Build or rehabilitate affordable rental housing.
Provides grants to qualified organizations to help them carry out local self-help housing construction projects. Grant recipients supervise groups of very-low- and low-income individuals and families as they construct their own homes in rural areas. The group members provide most of the construction labor on each other’s homes, with technical assistance from the organization overseeing the project.
The NASS Agricultural Chemical Use Program is USDA’s official source of statistics about on-farm chemical use and pest management practices. Since 1990, NASS has surveyed U.S. farmers to collect information on the chemical ingredients they apply to agricultural commodities through fertilizers and pesticides. On a rotating basis, the program currently includes fruits; vegetables; major field crops such as cotton, corn, potatoes, soybeans, and wheat; and nursery and floriculture crops.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service in cooperation with the USDA’s Risk Management Agency is currently conducting the 2021 Organic Survey to gather new data on certified organic crops and livestock commodities in the United States. The questionnaire asks producers to provide information on acreage, production, and sales as well as production and marketing practices. This effort is critical to help determine the economic impact of certified organic agriculture production on the nation.
The impact of foodborne diseases on health in the United States is considerable. CDC estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. NIFA seeks to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness and provide a safer food supply by supporting research, education, and extension activities addressing current priority issues and multiple disciplines in food safety.
NIFA's health and wellness portfolio focuses on promoting health, preventing chronic disease, eliminating disparities, and building a culture of health across the nation.