By Ryan Hanrahan
Successful Farming’s Mariah Squire reported late last week that “more than 100 USDA agency offices are some of the latest to be selected by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for lease termination. They’re on a list of nearly 750 government offices on the department’s ‘Wall of Receipts’ falling under the real estate category.”
“Agencies affected include Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) and their locations across 39 states and four territories,” Squire reported. Also included are offices for the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, Agricultural Marketing Service, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Food and Nutrition Service, Forest Service, the Risk Management Agency and the Rural Housing Service.
AgWeb’s Cheyenne Kramer reported that “it’s important to note the lease terminations don’t necessarily mean all the locations will close. In some cases, agencies may negotiate new leases to stay in place, downsize their existing space, or relocate elsewhere.”
DOGE Claims USDA Lease Terminations Will Save Millions
Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported that “on its website, DOGE shows it has ended 111 USDA office contracts across nine agencies, amounting to just under $27.4 million in annual rental payments with total contract ‘savings’ estimated at $59.2 million. The bulk of these savings comes from 19 of the largest annual leases, all of which were higher than $500,000 in costs.”
“Most of the largest USDA office contracts canceled by DOGE were in Republican-led states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas,” Clayton reported. “California had the most listed office closures with nine, including five NRCS offices, two FSA offices, a Forest Service office and an Agricultural Marketing Service office closure. In total, those contract terminations listed $818,722 in savings.”
“The single most expensive lease contract terminated was a U.S. Forest Service contract for a facility in Anchorage, Alaska, which alone accounted for $7.8 million in contract savings and an annual rent cost of $1.18 million,” Clayton reported. “Six office closures in Alaska amounted to $11.35 million in savings — the highest of any state — mainly due to the Anchorage lease.”
Nebraska USDA Hub Affected
The Flatwater Free Press’ Jeremy Turley reported this past Friday that “for more than 15 years, the brick building in south Lincoln has served as a local hub for the U.S. Department of Agriculture — a place where farmers meet face-to-face with federal workers overseeing complex conservation projects on their land. But last month, a new force in federal government plunged the service center’s future into uncertainty.”
“The Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk, moved to cancel the building’s lease months early and claimed it saved taxpayers more than $62,000. For now, the office is still occupied and the federal government hasn’t banked any savings,” Turley reported. “When asked about plans for the building last week, a manager who emerged from a back office responded with four words: ‘We don’t know anything.’ He declined to give his name.”
“Federal employees who work in the buildings, landlords who rent them out and U.S. Rep. Don Bacon told the Flatwater Free Press they received little or no advance notice before the lease terminations appeared on DOGE’s website,” Turley reported. “It’s still unclear whether the federal tenants will actually have to move out and find new offices.”
USDA Office Closures Uncommon Historically
Clayton reported that “earlier this week, DTN asked a spokesperson for U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., about the office closures. Boozman called for greater communication between DOGE and Congress about such moves.”
“‘America’s farm families must continue to access the services and benefits they rely on from USDA amid ongoing changes and reviews by the administration,’ Boozman said,” according to Clayton’s reporting. “‘This is particularly critical as many producers are navigating a downturn in the agricultural economy due to the lingering effects of inflation and low commodity prices, and local USDA offices will play a vital role in getting emergency assistance into the countryside. To date, Congress is not receiving advance notice of office closures, but improved coordination would better serve communities and agricultural producers.'”
“Congress historically has frowned upon USDA office closures, particularly local FSA offices,” Clayton reported. “The 2018 farm bill includes language that USDA must notify Congress before closing any FSA office and provide justification for the closure. Offices in rural and underserved areas are protected to maintain services.“
“Such provisions were written into law after USDA proposed closing 200 FSA offices nationwide in 2006 under the Bush administration. In 2012, the Obama administration also proposed closing 131 FSA offices due to Congressional spending cuts,” Clayton reported. “Congress then added annual appropriation riders to prevent USDA from closing local offices.”
Source : illinois.edu