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What the USDA does
Dr. Victor Martin

The drought monitor report as of Tuesday, May 6 shows little change across the state. Our entire area is still in moderate drought. This doesn’t include the Wednesday precipitation. The six to 10-day outlook (May 13-17) indicates a 60 to 70% chance of likely above normal temperatures and a 33 to 50% chance of leaning above normal for precipitation. The eight to 14-day outlook (May 15 to 21) indicates a 33 to 40% chance of leaning above normal for temperatures and a 40 to 50% chance of leaning above normal for precipitation. Not a terrible outlook for wheat, alfalfa and our summer row crops.

Today, with the downsizing of employees across government agencies in the news, how many actually know what agencies are within the USDA? What do they do? Briefly, there’s not sufficient space here, what are some of the agencies and what are their functions?

• Farm Service Agency (FSA) – The FSA provides critical services to the agricultural community as it implements farm policy as directed by Congress and the White House through laws, regulations, and the Farm Bill. They, along with the NRCS, are the points of contact between the government and producers. Here is just a partial list of services/programs: Supplemental Disaster Assistance, Agricultural Risk and Price Loss Coverage, Livestock Forage Disaster Program, Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops, Loan Assistance Programs, New Farmer and Rancher Assistance, outreach and education for various programs, Loan Deficiency Payments, various Conservation Reserve Programs, and the list goes on.

• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) – The NRCS is primarily charged with helping landowners, primarily but not exclusively ag lands, conserve, protect, and restore our natural resources. It started out decades ago, helping to mitigate soil erosion losses after the 1930s. They provide technical and financial assistance to landowners to implement various programs. The goal is to protect and restore the environment. The list of programs and assistance is long. However, many of you are familiar with the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) designed to protect and restore highly erodible lands by taking them out of production and returning them to a more natural state.

• Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) – APHIS is charged with protecting and insuring the health, safety and care of plants and animals. They work to keep harmful plants, diseases, and other organisms from crossing our borders.  

Also included are the Cooperative Extension Service, Agricultural Research Service, Ag. Marketing Service, Economic Research Service, Food and Nutrition Service, Food Safety Service, Foreign Ag. Service, Forest Service, Risk Management Agency, Rural Development, National Ag And Statistics Service, Rural Utilities and Housing Services, and more. These are all vital to the wellbeing of not only producers and the environment but also rural communities.


Dr. Victor L. Martin is the agriculture instructor/coordinator for Barton Community College. He can be reached at 620-792-9207, ext. 207, or martinv@bartonccc.edu.