U.S. Department of Agriculture
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Department of Agriculture | |
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Secretary: | Brooke Rollins |
Year created: | 1862 |
Official website: | USDA.gov |
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a United States executive department established in 1862 in order to "provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management."[1]
Brooke Rollins is the current secretary of agriculture. Click here to learn more about her confirmation process.
History
The following list includes important dates in the department's history:[2]
- 1820: United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture formed
- 1825: United States Senate Committee on Agriculture formed
- 1862: U.S. Department of Agriculture formed
- 1862: Homestead Act passed, providing land to willing farmers
- 1862: Morrill Land Grant College Act passed, allowing for land grant colleges
- 1890: Second Morrill Act passed, establishing black land grant colleges
- 1890: Federal Meat Inspection Act passed
- 1906: Food and Drug Act passed
- 1932-1936: Drought leads to Dust Bowl
- 1933: Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) established controls on agricultural markets
- 1936: Rural Electrification Act passed, providing electricity to rural areas
- 1946: National School Lunch Act passed
- 1964: Food Stamp Act passed as start to War on Poverty
Mission
The Department of Agriculture website states:
“ | "We provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management."[3] | ” |
—USDA[1] |
Leadership
Recent Secretaries of Agriculture | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Secretary of Agriculture | Years in office | Nominated by | ||||||
Daniel R. Glickman | 1995-2001 | Bill Clinton | ||||||
Ann M. Veneman | 2001-2005 | George W. Bush | ||||||
Michael O. Johanns | 2005-2007 | George W. Bush | ||||||
Edward T. Schafer | 2008-2009 | George W. Bush | ||||||
Tom Vilsack | 2009-2017 | Barack Obama | ||||||
Sonny Perdue | 2017-2021 | Donald Trump | ||||||
Tom Vilsack | 2021-2025 | Joe Biden | ||||||
Gary Washington (acting) | 2025-2025 | Donald Trump | ||||||
Brooke Rollins | 2025-present | Donald Trump |
Historical Secretaries of Agriculture | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Secretary of Agriculture | Years in office | Nominated by | ||||||
Norman J. Colman | 1889-1889 | Grover Cleveland | ||||||
Jeremiah M. Rusk | 1889-1893 | Benjamin Harrison | ||||||
J. Sterling Morton | 1893-1897 | Grover Cleveland | ||||||
Tama Jim Wilson | 1897-1913 | William McKinley | ||||||
David F. Houston | 1913-1920 | Woodrow Wilson | ||||||
Edwin T. Meredith | 1920-1921 | Woodrow Wilson | ||||||
Henry C. Wallace | 1921-1924 | Warren G. Harding | ||||||
Howard M. Gore | 1924-1925 | Calvin Coolidge | ||||||
William M. Jardine | 1925-1929 | Calvin Coolidge | ||||||
Arthur M. Hyde | 1929-1933 | Herbert Hoover | ||||||
Henry A. Wallace | 1933-1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||||||
Claude R. Wickard | 1940-1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||||||
Clinton P. Anderson | 1945-1948 | Harry Truman | ||||||
Charles F. Brannan | 1948-1953 | Harry Truman | ||||||
Ezra Taft Benson | 1953-1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||||||
Orville L. Freeman | 1961-1969 | John F. Kennedy | ||||||
Clifford M. Hardin | 1969-1971 | Richard Nixon | ||||||
Earl L. Butz | 1971-1976 | Gerald Ford | ||||||
John A. Knebel | 1976-1977 | Gerald Ford | ||||||
Robert S. Bergland | 1977-1981 | Jimmy Carter | ||||||
John R. Block | 1981-1986 | Ronald Reagan | ||||||
Richard E. Lyng | 1986-1989 | Ronald Reagan | ||||||
Clayton K. Yeutter | 1989-1991 | George H.W. Bush | ||||||
Edward R. Madigan | 1991-1993 | George H.W. Bush | ||||||
Mike Epsy | 1993-1994 | Bill Clinton |
Organization
Click here to view the USDA organization chart.
Responsibilities
Administrative State |
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Read more about the administrative state on Ballotpedia. |
USDA is responsible for researching, developing, and executing federal laws and policies related to food, farming, forestry, and rural development. USDA has eight mission areas: Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Food Safety, Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP), Natural Resources and Environment, Research, Education, and Economics, Rural Development, and Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs (TFAA). Through these mission areas, USDA aims to develop and execute programs to distribute food and nutrition information across the United States.[4] [5]
Role of USDA in work requirements for SNAP benefits
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has two sets of work requirements that are required by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Persons between the ages of 16 and 59 years old who are able to work must meet general work requirements to receive SNAP benefits. Work requirements may include registering for work; participating in SNAP employment and training or what USDA refers to as workfare programs (private or public nonprofit agency work as a condition of eligibility) if required by a state SNAP agency; and taking a suitable job if it is offered. Individuals required to work for SNAP benefits will lose benefits if they voluntarily quit their jobs or reduce their work hours below 30 hours a week without a good reason. If beneficiaries do not meet the general work requirements, they are disqualified from receiving SNAP benefits for at least a month and must start meeting requirements to receive SNAP benefits again.[6] [7]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms United States Department of Agriculture. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Official Department of Agriculture website
- Official Facebook page
- Official Twitter page
- Official Youtube channel
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Department of Agriculture, "About the U.S. Department of Agriculture," accessed February 26, 2024
- ↑ U.S. Department of Agriculture, "A Condensed History of American Agriculture 1776–1999," accessed January 10, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ ‘’USDA,’’ ‘’About,’’ accessed April 4, 2023
- ↑ ‘’USDA,’’ ‘’Mission Areas,’’ accessed April 4, 2023
- ↑ ‘’USDA Food and Nutrition Service,’’ ‘’SNAP Work Requirements,’’ accessed March 27, 2023
- ↑ ‘’Minnesota DHS,’’ ‘’5.11 - Workfare,’’ accessed April 6, 2023
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