President Trump plans to make deep cuts in the USDA. He proposes a 21 percent or $4.7 billion cut in USDA ?discretionary spending?. These are programs where spending levels are not mandated under the farm bill or other laws. White House officials say mandatory programs will come later.
Other reductions include field staff, lower funding for research, rural development and international food aid. His budget also wants to also shrink USDA county offices to ?reflect reduced Rural Development workload, and encourage private sector conservation planning.?
According to Agri-Pulse, Trump?s ?America First? says it would save $498 million by eliminating USDA loans and grants for rural water and wastewater projects. He also wants to gut the $200 million-a-year McGovern-Dole international school feeding program.
White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney says the cuts are needed to pay for a $52 billion, or 10 percent, increase in defense spending and a $2.8 billion, or 7 percent, increase for the Department of Homeland Security. Read the entire story here.
