About the U.S. Department of Agriculture (2024)

FAQs

What is the US Department of Agriculture do? ›

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues.

Our agencies help to keep America's farmers and ranchers in business and ensure that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.

The Department helps to curb and cure poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. It works to enhance the environment and to maintain production capacity by helping landowners protect the soil, water, forests, and other natural resources.

USDA grew out of the United States Patent Office's Agricultural Division, which had been established in 1839 with the mission to acquire, propagate, evaluate, and distribute seeds and plants, and to collect agricultural statistics and production information.

Formed in 1862, the USDA works to stabilize or improve domestic farm income, develop foreign markets, curb poverty and hunger, protect soil and water resources, make credit available for rural development, and ensure the quality of food supplies.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack | USDA.

What is agriculture's share of the overall U.S. economy? Agriculture, food, and related industries contributed roughly $1.530 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, a 5.6-percent share. The output of America's farms contributed $203.5 billion of this sum—about 0.7 percent of U.S. GDP.

Agriculture is known to be important for survival because it protects against famine because if agricultural output of a land is less, there would be no food for people or animals and famine can result because of that.

USDA offers voluntary programs and services to help agricultural producers and land managers build soil health, sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance productivity and commodity marketability, and mitigate the impacts of climate change while building resilience to strengthen your operation.

Agriculture is the practice of cultivating natural resources to sustain human life and provide economic gain. It combines the creativity, imagination, and skill involved in planting crops and raising animals with modern production methods and new technologies.

Who funds the US Department of Agriculture? ›

Each year federal agencies receive funding from Congress, known as budgetary resources . In FY 2024, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) had $390.23 Billion distributed among its 22 sub-components. Agencies spend available budgetary resources by making financial promises called obligations .

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production, works to assure food safety, protects natural resources, fosters rural ...

What We Do. We provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on public policy, the best available science, and effective management.

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) mission is to provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a United States executive department established in 1862 in order to "provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management."

Safety Through Inspection

FSIS protects the public's health by ensuring that meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome and properly labeled.

U.S. House Committee on Agriculture

The committee establishes federal agricultural policy and provides funding to support agricultural research and development, from the Pure Food & Drug Act for food safety standards to the creation and maintenance of Agricultural Experiment Stations.

USDA works to increase food security and reduce hunger by providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education in a way that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence.