The USDA is facing a critical worker shortage. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says his department has lost thousands of staffers in recent years, and they are trying to recoup some of those losses.
He is asking Congress for 535 new staffers for NRCS and 64 more for FSA.
“The Department of Agriculture has 5,300 fewer people working at it than it did when I left office in January of 2017. This is despite the fact that the discretionary and mandatory budgets have increased. The discretionary budget’s been increased by 18%, and the programmatic spending has increased by several billion dollars.”
He says there are critical shortages in rural development, food and nutrition, consumer service and NRCS.
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