A new report by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Prospect Partners LLC declared there has been “an unprecedented staffing crisis” within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the past 16 months.
Becky Schewe with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Bernie Kluger with Prospect Partners LLC authored the report. They obtained information for the report through a Freedom of Information Act request.
While every USDA agency lost staff, losses in direct farmer-facing service offices are particularly concerning as farmers face an ongoing crisis of economic and natural disasters.
According to the report, in 2025 the Farm Service Agency (FSA) saw a 21% loss in staff, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) saw a 23% reduction.
FSA and NRCS staff work directly with farmers providing technical assistance, financial support and guidance to navigate the complex web of government programs. Losses in these direct farmer-serving agencies means that U.S. farmers, ranchers and landowners have fewer experts in their communities to turn to for assistance.
More than one-third of FSA local offices with county employees at the beginning of 2025 experienced a net loss of staff by year’s end, with 42 offices ending the year with no FSA county employees. Losses of FSA county employees compound previously reported cuts to locally stationed federal employees of the FSA and NRCS.
In Florida, three counties started 2025 with FSA county staff but ended the year with none. Also in 2025, Florida lost 34% of its NRCS staff.
The report notes even larger staff losses in many other USDA agencies, including the following:
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture: 40% loss
- Rural Development: 36% loss
- National Agricultural Statistics Service: 36% loss
- Economic Research Service: 32% loss
- Agricultural Research Service: 31% loss
See the full report, “USDA Staffing Cuts Reduce Local Presence in Communities Nationwide,” here.
Sources: National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Prospect Partners LLC
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