July 24 (UPI) — The United States Department of Agriculture will reorganize, refocusing its core operations to support American farming, ranching and forestry, moving staff out of Washington and closer to farm land, said Brooke L. Rollins, U.S. secretary of Agriculture.
A press release from Rollins said, “Over the last four years, USDA’s workforce grew by 8%, and employees’ salaries increased by 14.5% — including hiring thousands of employees with no sustainable way to pay them. This all occurred without any tangible increase in service to USDA’s core constituencies across the agricultural sector.”
The statement goes on to say that the “USDA’s footprint in the National Capital Region is underutilized and redundant, plagued by rampant overspending and decades of mismanagement and costly deferred maintenance.” The NCR includes Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas in Virginia and Maryland.
“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the Department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said in a statement. “We will do so through a process that preserves USDA’s critical health and public safety services the American public relies on. We will do right by the great American people who we serve and with respect to the thousands of hardworking USDA employees who so nobly serve their country.”
The reorganization consists of four pillars:
Ensure the size of USDA’s workforce aligns with available financial resources and agricultural prioritiesBring USDA closer to its customersEliminate management layers and bureaucracyConsolidate redundant support functions
The USDA will move staff out of the District of Columbia to five hub locations in the country, which will, according to the department, save money in salaries, the press release said.
There are about 4,600 employees in the NCR region, which has a high cost of living. The federal salary locality rate is 34%, whereas the other hubs are lower.
USDA’s five hub locations and federal locality rates:Raleigh, N.C. (22.24%)Kansas City, Mo. (18.97%)Indianapolis, Ind. (18.15%)Fort Collins, Colo. (30.52%)Salt Lake City, Utah (17.06%)
Agriculture Department officials say that, in recent years, more than 15,000 USDA employees have taken voluntary deferred resignation.
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