Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has recently announced the reorganization of USDA, refocusing its core operations to better align with its founding mission of supporting American agriculture.
Thousands of staff will move out of Washington as USDA relocates to five regional hubs. The plan also trims the workforce and returns underused buildings to the federal government.
USDA says all critical services will continue, including food safety and wildfire response.
Click below to read the five-page plan:
Secretary Rollins’ MemorandumThe reorganization consists of four pillars:
- Ensure the size of USDA’s workforce aligns with available financial resources and agricultural priorities
- Bring USDA closer to its customers
- Eliminate management layers and bureaucracy
- Consolidate redundant support functions
USDA’s five hub locations and current Federal locality rates are:
- Raleigh, North Carolina (22.24%)
- Kansas City, Missouri (18.97%)
- Indianapolis, Indiana (18.15%)
- Fort Collins, Colorado (30.52%)
- Salt Lake City, Utah (17.06%)
Brooke Rollins released the following message to USDA Employees:
Related Stories
Agricultural exports continue to be a key contributor to rural employment. However, rural businesses still struggle to fill numerous job openings.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated this week that the government will intervene to help, following China’s withdrawal from the U.S. soybean market. One trader says the industry will remain in a holding pattern until Tuesday.
Farm CPA Paul Neiffer joins us to provide an updated analysis of projected ARC and PLC payments and potential delays due to the ongoing government shutdown.
“It, all of a sudden, says that tracking and fighting hunger is not a priority, apparently, at the federal level.”
In a final rule published in the Federal Register, the Department states that it will no longer base wage rates on the Farm Labor Survey.
Farmers are in the midst of harvest as the government descends into a shutdown and the Farm Bill expires. Key federal departments, crop reporting, and aid programs important to the agricultural sector are now on hold.