New USDA Communications Staffers

Chuck Zimmerman

USDAThe USDA office of communications has some new staff members. Kristin Scuderi will serve as Deputy Press Secretary; Harry Phillips serves as Director of Speechwriting and Jessie Nicholson as Speechwriter in the department.

Welcome to the staff!

USDA

Almost 1.1 million U S Farms Have Internet Access

Chuck Zimmerman

National Agricultural Statistics ServiceIt’s really official that 51 percent of U S farms have internet access now! That’s up 3 percent from 2003. The percentage of increase is smaller than in past surveys showing some levelling off in farms obtaining internet access. This makes some sense when you consider that the average age of a farmer continues to move upward. I can’t see the number declining though and at 51 percent that means that almost 1.1 million farms are online! That’s a significant number.

Audio, USDA