Department of Agriculture is the doa full form. Department of Agriculture is one of the United States federal executive departments. The agency has offices in every state and territory. Its purview includes, among other things: food safety; agricultural inspections; plant and animal pest control; market promotion programs; support for farmers who cannot sell their product; export trade development, such as negotiating international trade agreements and foreign investment issues impacting agriculture abroad. It offers access to loans (e.g., farm ownership transfers), financial protection (e.g., against falling crop prices or natural disasters) through the noninsured portion of its crop insurance program, and price supports. The department also oversees the handling of U.S. Government property and carries out various civil rights laws and regulations such as those that prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender or religion; Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin by organizations that receive federal financial assistance.
- The Department of Agriculture is responsible for the U.S.’s natural resources.
- They are in charge of agricultural production, food safety, and nutrition.
- Their mission is to “promote agriculture production that better meets our Nation’s needs.”
- They also work with farmers on crop insurance and disaster assistance programs.
- The USDA has a long history dating back to 1862 when Abraham Lincoln created it as part of his plan to win the Civil War by providing food for Union troops and their families at home.
- It was later given its present-day name in 1889 during Grover Cleveland’s second term as President.
The department is currently headed by Sec. Sonny Perdue (who replaced Sec. Tom Vilsack in 2017) and assisted by Under Secretary Bill Northey . The Office of the Chief Economist, located in Washington D.C., provides direction and oversight to the Research, Education and Economics mission area under which the National Institute of Food and Agriculture is administered.
The department has a presence in county farm bureaus, agriculture research stations, state departments of agriculture, the Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES) and other state agencies. They also work closely with many partners through local extension agents trained at land grant universities across the country to provide education and outreach on new technology for agricultural producers.
In 1887, Congress established an Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture in the Department of the Interior. In 1889, the agency was transferred to the Department of Agriculture as an executive department with a Senate-confirmed Commissioner. The Agricultural Act of 1890 created many subsidiary organizations that were eventually reorganized into the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These organizations include the Office of the General Counsel; the Crop Statistics Board; Division of Information (later Statistical) ; Bureau of Animal Industry ; Balloon Experiment Station (first in world to use aircraft for scientific work); Section of Chemistry, until 1894; Forest Service ; Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering five divisions including the first experimental farm-to-market road program. It became an executive department in May 1907. Further reorganization continued throughout much of the 20th century.
Department officials began communicating on Twitter in late 2015. The account posts updates on USDA policy changes, food safety announcements, resource conservation efforts, and other programs administered by the agency.
In December 2016, the agency launched a blog site called USDA Soapbox as another platform for communication. The blog provides an opportunity to communicate on new initiatives and programs of the Department.
In December 2012, Congress passed H.R. 3102 , the Agricultural Act of 2014, a five-year farm bill that included changes to numerous aspects of agricultural policy, including amendments to Title XVII related to rural development and appropriations for research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The department publishes several daily publications:
In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Vilsack as his Secretary of Agriculture In 2015, Governor Terry Branstad accepted Governor Perdue’s nomination as United States Ambassador to China after being confirmed by the U.S Senate. In 2017, Sonny Perdue was confirmed as Governor of Georgia to become the next United States Secretary of Agriculture after being confirmed by the U.S Senate.