Many of the to-do items build on work started in the first Trump administration and continued under Biden to simplify the farm loans process, but the White House’s push to shrink the federal workforce could make the endeavor more difficult.
The department is planning to launch an internal audit to find farmer-facing applications that are still paper-based so that they can be streamlined and digitized.
“Putting Farmers First means addressing the issues farmers face head-on and fostering an economic environment that doesn’t put up roadblocks on business creation but removes them,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a statement about the agenda, which is focused on small family farms.
USDA is also assessing shared services platforms for the financing programs within its Farm Service Agency and Rural Development office, and the department also plans to make farmers.gov into a “one stop shop for all farmer needs,” it said.
“USDA resources are only effective if they are usable and accessible,” the document read.
The policy agenda comes as the department plans to cut staff as part of a new reorganization. Already, USDA has lost thousands of employees through “deferred resignation” offers.
“It is unclear how many customer experience and digital experience employees still remain, and I don't know how USDA is going to deliver service improvements without the talent to do that,” said Amira Choueiki Boland, chie ..
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