USDA to Close Hundreds of Offices

USDA chief Vilsack tries to allay safety concerns, saying the cuts will have "no impact whatsoever" on food safety.

January 12, 2012

DES MOINES, IA - Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture??s announcement earlier this week that it will close 131 of its 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices in 32 states will have "no impact whatsoever" on food safety, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Vilsack said agency inspectors will continue working without interruption at every meat-processing plant in the country, and that the closing of facilities related to food safety won??t happen until after October 1 and only then will affect administrative personnel. County offices that oversee farm programs may close before then, he said.

"We have to get our fiscal house in order," Vilsack said. "That??s going to involve tough calls."

The closings are part of roughly $3 billion in cuts to the USDA??s operating budget since 2010, Vilsack said, adding Congress will be considering further spending reductions later this year as it debates the next farm bill.

The plan announced earlier this week includes closing 131 of the 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices in 32 states, 15 of the more than 575 U.S. offices of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (responsible for inspecting 6,000-pluls slaughter and food-processing establishments), and seven overseas USDA offices. The total savings: about 1% of the department??s annual spending.

Chandler Goule, a lobbyist for the National Farmers Union, said Congress, not the USDA, is to blame for the cuts.

"A 'cut first, ask questions later?? attitude in Congress toward investing in agriculture and rural America is now showing its true cost to farmers, ranchers and rural citizens," Goule said.

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