1、 https:/crsreports.congress.gov March 11, 2020Staffing Trends in the USDA Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Mission AreaThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers federal farm and conservation programs primarily through three agencies: the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRC
2、S), the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and the Risk Management Agency (RMA). All three agencies have experienced staffing declines over the last 20 years. Many in Congress have expressed general concern over USDA staffing levels in annual appropriations statements and oversight hearings. This report ana
3、lyzes available data on NRCS, FSA, and RMA staffing levels. Issues related to total staffing levelssuch as funding, workload analysis, and capacityare not discussed. Available Data All staffing data in this In Focus were obtained directly from the annual Presidents budget explanatory notes that are
4、published by USDA (see https:/www.obpa.usda.gov/). Unless otherwise stated, only data listed as actual are included and are from the most recent year that each data point was available. This In Focus includes two types of staffing level datastaff years and end-of-year staff levels. A staff year is t