Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 127: USDA Announces Major Reorganization: What It Means for Producers

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127: USDA Announces Major Reorganization: What It Means for Producers · CattleUSA Daily

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  Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
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  the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the update
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  shaping agriculture today. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a
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  passionate advocate for agriculture, here to keep you
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  informed and connected. Now let's dive into today's
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  episode. Welcome back to another episode
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  of the Cattle USA Daily podcast. Today's episode covers a big
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  shake up in Washington, one that could directly impact how AG
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  producers interact with the USDA in the years ahead.
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  US Secretary AG Secretary Brooke Rawlins just announced a major
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  reorganization of the Department of Agriculture aimed at cutting
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  costs, relocating staff and bridging the USDA closer to the
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  people that it serves. Over the past four years, USDA's
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  workforce grew by 8% and salaries rose by 14.5%, but
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  according to the department, that growth came without a
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  corresponding increase in service to AG producers.
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  Thousands of new hires were added with no substantial
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  funding plan. Secretary Rollins described the
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  USDA as bloated, expensive and mismanaged, particularly in its
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  Washington, DC footprint where many buildings are underutilized
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  and in need of costly repairs. The plan has four major goals.
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  One, right size the USDA's workforce based on budget and AG
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  priorities #2 bring USDA closer to farmers and ranchers #3
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  eliminate bureaucratic layers #4 consolidate redundant support
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  functions. This is the first phase of a
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  multi month process. USDA leadership will notify
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  offices soon about relocation and realignment.
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  One of the biggest changes that we are going to be seeing is US.
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  UTDA is moving many of its National Capital Region staff to
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  five regional hubs, Raleigh, NC, Kansas City, MO, Indianapolis
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  IN, Fort Collins, Co, and Salt Lake City, UT.
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  Right now, about 4600 USDA employees are based in the DC
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  area. That number will be reduced to
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  around 2000 after the reorganization.
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  The move is designed to lower cost.
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  Washington, DC has a federal locality payout pay rate of
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  nearly 34%, while the hubs range from 17 to 30%.
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  USDA will return several major buildings to the General
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  Services Administration, including the South Building,
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  Braddock Place, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.
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  The South Building alone has over $1.3 billion in deferred
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  maintenance and is currently averages fewer than 1900 people
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  a day in a space built for over 6000.
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  The Carver Center will still be used and functions and functions
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  at other facilities like the Witten and Yates Building are
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  being re evaluated. Rawlins emphasized the all
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  critical USDA functions will continue, especially those tied
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  to national security, fire season, food safety and AG
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  inspections. Earlier this year, she issued a
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  memo exempting 52 essential position types from the hiring
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  freeze. These roles are considered vital
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  for public safety and will not be eliminated, though some
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  employees may be relocated. So while there's major
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  restructuring, the department says core services for farmers
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  and ranchers will not be disrupted.
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  To manage costs, the USDA is also reducing its overall
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  workforce, but doing so voluntarily.
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  As of today, more than 15,000 employees have opted for
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  deferred retirement through a fully voluntary program.
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  This is part of USDA's attempt to right size without mass
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  layoffs, focusing instead on attrition, retirement and
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  reorganization. So here are your takeaways as a
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  listener. Today, USDA is downsizing its DC
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  footprint and moving core operations closer to AG
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  communities. 5 regional hubs will become the new centers of
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  USDA activity. Critical services will remain
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  intact, but many jobs are being relocated or phased out
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  voluntarily. This is a major structural shift
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  and will continue tracking how it affects funding, access and
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  services for producers on the ground.
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  Thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of
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  the Cattle USA Daily Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode
• 4:29
  covering current events and current topics within
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  agriculture, make sure that you are tuned into our Cattle USA
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  Dr. newsletter. This is where I got this article
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  from and it is a newsletter that hits your inbox every single
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  morning so that you as producers or agriculturalist in general
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  can get up to date news and information on everything from
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  markets to weather to news hitting the World Wide Web.
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  So make sure that you head down to the show notes and you
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  subscribe to that newsletter. And as always, thank you all for
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  listening and we'll see you all tomorrow in another episode.
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  Have a good one y'all.