Department of Agriculture(USDA)
Cabinet department for food, farming, nutrition assistance, rural development, forestry, agricultural research, and food safety.
Function
Cabinet department
Parent
Top-level (no parent)
FY2026 Budget Authority
$476.75B
Official Data
USAspending.govEvidence & Review
Evidence Confidence
HighVerification Status
AI-researched, unverifiedLast Reviewed
Jul 5, 2026
Retrieved On
Jul 5, 2026
Effectiveness Baseline
Performance.gov links USDA strategic plans, performance reporting, and learning agenda material; USA.gov lists public service channels from rural development offices to farm service centers.
Efficiency Opportunities
Reduce duplicate farmer reporting across FSA, NRCS, RMA, and Rural Development; align grant data standards; move wildfire procurement and incident finance toward reusable shared services.
Effectiveness Opportunities
Speed disaster and conservation payments, improve SNAP/WIC error prevention without adding stigma, and use county-office data to target technical assistance where uptake is low.