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IATP cites concerns over USDA staffing, reorganization

An ag policy specialist says he’s concerned about staff shortages within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, says local offices, specifically, have seen a decline in employees.

“Fewer staff means more difficulty for farmers to access programs and the more likelihood (USDA) will send the money to the larger operations.”

Lilliston adds, “It’s easier for them to administer fewer grants or fewer loans to fewer large operations than a bunch of small grants and a bunch of small loans.”

He says he’s not optimistic the USDA’s recently announced reorganization plan will help the situation.

“That may make sense if it was part of a real plan, but we fear the real goal of that is to get a lot of people to quit at USDA, further downsize, and to lose more people.”

Earlier this summer, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the agency will move into five hub locations in Raleigh, North Carolina, Kansas City, Missouri, Indianapolis, Indiana, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Rollins said the reorganization is designed to ensure the size of its workforce aligns with financial resources, bring the department closer to farmers, eliminate management layers and bureaucracy, and consolidate support functions.