AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive, cabinet-level department in the federal government. It is directed by the secretary of agriculture, who reports to the president of the United States. Its primary concern is the nation’s agriculture industry, and it addresses this concern through numerous economic, regulatory, environmental, and scientific programs. The USDA provides financial aid to farmers through loans, grants, and a system of price supports that delicately balances the nation’s agriculture markets, and its international efforts to promote domestically grown products abroad. It regulates the quality and output of the grain, meat, and poultry industries. Through various conservation programs, the department helps protect soil, water, forests, and other natural resources. The USDA also administers the federal Food Stamp Program, one of the WELFARE system’s largest services.

The USDA has a long history. It was created by an act of May 15, 1862 (12 Stat. 387, now codified at 7 U.S.C.A. § 2201), and was administered by a commissioner of agriculture until 1889 (25 Stat. 659). In 1889, Congress enlarged the department’s powers and duties (7 U.S.C.A. §§ 2202, 2208). It made the USDA the eighth executivedepartment in the federal government, andthe commissioner became the secretary of agriculture.Federal lawmakers have tinkered withthe department ever since. Notably, programsproviding economic aid to farmers were establishedduring the Great Depression, and theyhave since become a firmly entrenched part offederal law. Important contemporary reformshave included federal welfare services such asthe Food Stamp Program, administered throughthe Food and Nutrition Service since the 1970s,and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, andTrade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.A. § 1421 note etseq.), enacted to maintain the income of farmers.The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (Freedom to Farm Act)(Pub.L. 104–127, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 888),and the Farm Security and Rural Investment Actof 2002 (Farm Bill 2002) (Pub.L. 107–171, May13, 2002, 116 Stat. 134), while promising less reliance on farm subsidies, have continued thedepartment’s central role in administering subsidy programs.The secretary of agriculture sits above an elaborate bureaucracy. The deputy secretary runs day-to-day operations, serving as the secretary’sprincipal adviser. Reporting to the secretary and deputy secretary are six officers: chief financial officer, general counsel, inspector general, executive of operations, director of communications,and chief information officer. These officers and their staffs coordinate theUSDA’s personnel management program; equalopportunity and CIVIL RIGHTS activities; safetyand health activities; management improvement programs; media relations; accounting, fiscal,and financial activities; automated data processingadministration; procurement and contracts;and management of real and PERSONAL PROPERTY.Legal affairs are handled in various branchesof the USDA. The judicial officer serves as the final deciding officer, in the place of the secretary, in regulatory proceedings and appeals of a QUASI-JUDICIAL nature where a hearing isrequired by law. Two quasi-judicial agencies, the Office of Administrative Law Judges and theBoard of Contract Appeals, adjudicate cases anddecide contract disputes. Additional input to thesecretary comes from the general counsel, who is both the principal legal adviser and the chief lawofficer of the department. All audits and investigations are conducted by the Office of the Inspector General, established by the InspectorGeneral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.A. § 2 et seq.). The Office of Congressional Relations informs Congressof administrative policy. Also reporting to the secretary and deputy secretary are seven under secretaries who oversee major divisions. These divisions include Rural Development; Marketing and RegulatoryPrograms; Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services; Food Safety; Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service; Natural Resources and Environment;and Research, Education, and Economics. The USDA also runs a graduateschool.

Rural Development

The Rural Development division includes three programs that provide financial help tofarmers and rural communities. The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) provides and guarantees loans to public entities and private parties who cannot obtain credit from other sources. Loans are made to help finance industry and business and to provide jobs in rural areas.The Rural Housing Service (RHS) providesaffordable rental housing, home ownership opportunities, and essential community facilities. It also provides loans to buy, operate, andimprove farms, and guarantees loans from commercial lenders. The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is a credit agency that helps rural electricand telephone utilities obtain financing.

Marketing and Regulatory Programs

The Marketing and Regulatory Programsdivision oversees three major programs. TheAgricultural Marketing Service (AMS) administersstandardization, grading, inspection,marketnews, marketing orders, research, promotion,and regulatory programs. The Animal and PlantHealth Inspection Service conducts programs pertaining to quarantine, environmental protection,the humane treatment of animals, and thereduction of crop and livestock losses. TheGrain Inspection, Packers, and StockyardsAdministration regulates grain, meat, poultry industries, and other commodities. It also enforces ANTITRUST LAWS to ensure fair competition in the meat industry.

Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services

The Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services division includes two social welfare programsand one consumer information service.The Food and Nutrition Service administersfederal assistance programs to needy people,including the Food Stamp Program, specialnutrition programs, and supplemental foodprograms. The Center for Nutrition Policy andPromotion (CNPP) conducts research toimprove professional and public understandingof diets and eating, and develops the nationalDietary Guidelines for Americans. The CNPPalso focuses on consumer advocacy by helpingUSDA policy makers, representing the departmentbefore Congress, monitoring USDA programs,and conducting consumer outreach.

Food Safety

The Food Safety division administers theFood Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Establishedin 1981, the FSIS conducts federal meatand poultry inspections on cattle, swine, goats,sheep, lambs, horses, chickens, turkeys, ducks,geese, and guineas used for human food. It alsoinspects the production of egg products. Theservice monitors meat and poultry products instorage, distribution, and retail channels.In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September11, 2001, the USDA emphasized the needto protect the nation’s food supply. It primarilyfocused on bioterrorist threats and worked toestablish an infrastructure that will provide betterfood safety. For example, additional ImportSurveillance Liaison (ISL) inspectors were hiredto focus on specific points of entry across theUnited States, and to re-inspect meats and poultry that were being imported from other countries.The USDA also increased resources at universities and laboratories where research intobiological agents, and food safety analysis weretaking place. Such initiatives will ultimately benefit the overall integrity of the nation’s food supply.

Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service

The Farm and Foreign Agricultural Servicedivision administers three programs that helpmaintain a stable market for farm commodities,thus ensuring a steady income for farmers. TheFarm Service Agency (FSA) administers programsof the COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION(CCC). These programs include so-calledprice supports: farmers who agree to limit theirproduction of specially designated crops can sellthem to the CCC or borrow money at supportprices. The FSA also furnishes emergency financialaid to farmers, operates a grain reserve program,provides milk producers refunds of thereduction in the price received for milk during acalendar year, and provides payments to dairyfarmers if their milk is removed from the marketbecause of contamination. It has responsibilityfor plans relating to food production and conservationin preparation for a national securityemergency, and provides incentives for preservingand protecting agricultural resources. TheRisk Management Agency (RMA) provides cropinsurance to farmers to protect them againstunexpected production losses caused by naturalcauses.The division also has an international focus.The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has primaryresponsibility for the USDA’s overseasmarket information, access, and developmentprograms.Maintaining a worldwide agriculturalintelligence and reporting system, it also administersthe USDA’s export assistance and foreignfood assistance programs. The Office of InternationalCooperation and Development (OICD)helps other USDA agencies and U.S. universitiesenhance U.S. agricultural competitiveness globally.Through utilizing the technical expertise ofthe U.S. agricultural community, it seeks toincrease income and food availability in developingnations.

Natural Resources and Environment

Two programs in the Natural Resources andEnvironment division address environmentalresources. The Forest Service oversees thenational forests. It manages 155 national forests,20 national grasslands, and 8 land-utilizationprojects on over 191 million acres in 44 states,the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. It providesnational leadership, and financial and technicalassistance, to owners and operators of nonfederalforestland, processors of forest products,and urban forestry interests. The NaturalResources Conservation Service has responsibilityfor developing and carrying out a nationalsoil and water conservation program in cooperationwith landowners, developers, communities,and federal, state, and local agencies. It alsoassists in agricultural POLLUTION control, environmentalimprovement, and rural communitydevelopment.

Research, Education, and Economics

The Research, Education, and Economics division administers four major programs. TheAgricultural Research Service (ARS) conductsstudies in the United States and overseas to improve farming. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service administers acts of Congress that authorize federalappropriations for agricultural research carriedout by the State Agricultural Experiment Stations. The Extension Service is the educational agency of the USDA. The National Agricultural Statistics Service provides informationservices to everyone from research scientists tothe general public, and maintains the electronicAgricultural Online Access (AGRICOLA) database,available over the INTERNET and on compactdisc. It prepares estimates and reports onproduction, supply, price, and other economicinformation. The Economic Research Service(ERS) analyzes economic and other social sciencedata in order to improve agricultural performanceand rural living It makes analyses of recommendations by USDA agencies, task forces, and study groups to be used as a basis forshort-term agricultural policy.

USDA Graduate School

The Graduate School, U.S. Department ofAgriculture, is a continuing education schooloffering career-related training to adults. Notdirectly funded by Congress or the USDA, it isself-supporting, with a mostly part-time facultydrawn from government and industry. Thegraduate school, administered by a director andgoverned by a general administration boardappointed by the secretary of agriculture, wasestablished on September 2, 1921, pursuant toact of May 15, 1862 (7 U.S.C.A. § 2201); joint resolution of April 12, 1892 (27 Stat. 395); andthe Deficiencies Appropriation Act of March 3,1901 (20 U.S.C.A. §. 91).

AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT