United States Department of Agriculture
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| Established: | February 9, 1889 |
| Activated: | February 15, 1889 |
| Secretary: | Mike Johanns |
| Deputy Secretary: | Jim Moseley |
| Budget: | $19.4 billion (2006) |
| Employees: | 109,832 (2004) |
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA, is a Cabinet department of the United States Federal Government. Its purpose is to develop and execute policy on farming, agriculture, and food. It aims to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities, also to meet the needs of the american people,and end hunger, in America and abroad.
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History
The United States had a largely agrarian economy early in its history. Officials in the federal government had long sought new and improved varieties of seeds, plants, and animals for importation to the United States. In 1836 Henry L. Ellsworth, a man interested in improving agriculture, became Commissioner of Patents, a position within the Department of State. He soon began collecting and distributing new varieties of seeds and plants through members of the Congress and agricultural societies. In 1839 Congress established the Agricultural Division within the Patent Office and allotted $1,000 for "the collection of agricultural statistics and other agricultural purposes."
Ellsworth's interest in aiding agriculture was evident in his annual reports that called for a public depository to preserve and distribute the various new seeds and plants, a clerk to collect agricultural statistics, the preparation of statewide reports about crops in different regions, and the application of chemistry to agriculture. In 1849 the Patent Office was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior. In the ensuing years, agitation for a separate bureau of agriculture within the Department or a separate department devoted to agriculture kept recurring.
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On May 15, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln established the independent Bureau of Agriculture to be headed by a Commissioner without cabinet status. Lincoln called it the "people's department." At the time, 48 percent of the U.S. population were farmers.
In the 1880s, varied special interest groups were lobbying for Cabinet representation. Business interests sought a Department of Commerce and Industry. Farmers tried to raise the Bureau of Agriculture to Cabinet rank. In 1887, the House and Senate passed bills creating a Department of Agriculture and Labor, but farm interests objected to the inclusion of labor, and the bill was killed in conference. Finally, on February 9, 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law establishing the Cabinet level Department of Agriculture.
The USDA is administered by the United States Secretary of Agriculture.
Operating units
- Extension Service of the USDA
- Farm Service Agency (FSA)
- Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)
- Risk Management Agency (RMA)
- Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
- Forest Service (FS)
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS)
- Office of Community Development (OCD)
- Rural Housing Service (RHS)
- Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
- Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
- Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP)
- Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
- Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)
- Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
- Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)
- Economic Research Service (ERS)
- National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
Related legislation
Important legislation setting policy of the USDA includes the:
- 1890, 1891, 1897, 1906 Meat Inspection Act
- 1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act
- 1914 - Cotton Futures Act
- 1916 - Federal Farm Loan Act
- 1917 - Food Control and Production Acts
- 1921 - Packers and Stockyards Acts
- 1922 - Grain Futures Act
- 1922 - National Agricultural Conference
- 1923 - Agricultural Credits Act
- 1933 - Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
- 1933 - Farm Credit Act
- 1935 - Resettlement Administration
- 1936 - Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
- 1937 - Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act
- 1941 - National Victory Garden Program
- 1941 - Steagall Amendment
- 1946 - Farmers Home Administration
- 1946 - National School Lunch Act PL 79-396
- 1946 - Research and Marketing Act
- 1948 - Hope-Aiken Agriculture Act PL 80-897
- 1956 - Soil Bank Program authorized
- 1957 - Poultry Inspection Act
- 1947 - Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act PL 80-104
- 1949 - Agricultural Act PL 81-439
- 1954 - Food for Peace Act PL 83-480
- 1954 - Agricultural Act PL 83-690
- 1956 - Mutual Security Act PL 84-726
- 1957 - Poultry Products Inspection Act PL 85-172
- 1958 - Food Additives Amendment PL 85-929
- 1958 - Humane Slaughter Act
- 1958 - Agricultural Act PL 85-835
- 1961 - Agricultural Act PL 87-128
- 1964 - Agricultural Act PL 88-297
- 1964 - Food Stamp Act PL 88-525
- 1964 - Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Extension PL 88-305
- 1965 - Appalachian Regional Development Act
- 1965 - Food and Agriculture Act PL 89-321
- 1966 - Child Nutrition Act PL 89-642
- 1967 - Wholesome Meat Act PL 90-201
- 1968 - Wholesome Poultry Products Act PL 90-492
- 1970 - Agricultural Act PL 91-524
- 1972 - Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act PL 92-516
- 1970 - Environmental Quality Improvement Act
- 1970 - Food Stamp Act PL 91-671
- 1972 - Rural Development Act
- 1972 - Rural Development Act Reform 3.31
- 1972 - National School Lunch Act Amendments (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) PL 92-433
- 1973 - Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act PL 93-86
- 1974 - Safe Drinking Water Act PL 93-523
- 1977 - Food and Agriculture Act PL 95-113
- 1996 - Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act PL 104-127
- 1996 - Food Quality Protection Act PL 104-170
- 2002 - Farm Security and Rural Investment Act PL 107-171
See also
External links
- United States Department of Agriculture (http://www.usda.gov/)
- History of American Agriculture (http://www.usda.gov/history2/text11.htm)
- USDA National Nutrient Database (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/)
- eLook Nutrition (http://www.elook.org/nutrition/) - Provides the complete USDA nutritional database online along with search feature.
- National Archives document of the USDA's origins (http://www.colby.edu/sts/97guide/nara07-18.html)
- Report: USDA Regulatory Policy Has Been 'Hijacked' by Agribusiness Industry (http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=33830) - July 23, 2004.
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