The United States Department of Agriculture mostly bypassed California's agriculturally rich Central Valley in a round of budget cuts.
USDA announced Monday it plans to close 259 offices and make structural changes to shave $150 million per year from its budget.
The sole exception in the valley is the planned closure of Western Integrated Cropping Systems Research in Kern County. The program is part of the USDA's Research, Education and Economics Mission.
"The USDA, like families and businesses across the country, cannot continue to operate like we did 50 years ago," USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a prepared statement released to the news media. "We must innovate, modernize, and be better stewards of the taxpayers' dollars. We must build on the record accomplishments of farm communities in 2011 with a stronger, more effective USDA in 2012 and beyond."
The budget-reduction proposal includes:
- Farm Service Agency (FSA): Consolidate 131 county offices in 32 states; more than 2,100 FSA offices remain throughout the United States
- Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS): Close 2 country offices; more than 95 FAS offices remain throughout the world
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): Close 15 APHIS offices in 11 states and 5 APHIS offices in 5 foreign countries; more than 560 APHIS offices remain throughout the United States and 55 remain throughout the world
- Rural Development (RD): Close 43 area and sub offices in 17 states and U.S. territories; approximately 450 RD offices remain throughout the United States
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS): Close 24 soil survey offices in 21 states; more than 2,800 NRCS offices remain throughout the United States
- Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS): Close 5 district offices in 5 states; 10 district offices remain throughout the United States
- Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Close 12 programs at 10 locations; more than 240 programs remain throughout the United States
- Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS): Close 31 field offices in 28 states; 32 FNCS offices will remain throughout the United States
- Consolidate more than 700 cell phone plans into about 10;
- Standardize civil rights training and purchases of cyber security products; and
- Ensure more efficient and effective service to our employees by moving toward more centralized civil rights, human resource, procurement, and property management functions, creating millions of dollars in efficiencies without sacrificing the quality of our work.
Complete lists of proposed office closures are available at:
Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
Marketing and Regulatory Programs
Natural Resources and the Environment
Research, Education and Economics
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