Inside the program cuts, workforce purges, and secretive reorganization of the USDA

Photo caption: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Administrator of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler take a photo in front of the golden tractor during the 2025 Great American Farmers Market in front of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Headquarters, Washington D.C., Aug. 3, 2025. […] Photo credit: USDA photo by Christophe Paul via Flickr. Public Domain. Article by Ayurella Horn-Muller. Grist – August 27, 2025.

Like many government agencies, the Department of Agriculture has a fraught history with discrimination and disenfranchisement. Farmers of color and young and beginning producers have long struggled to access capital, in the form of loans and grants, from the agency. So in 2022, former President Joe Biden’s USDA created the Regional Food Business Centers program, or RFBC, using funding from the American Rescue Plan. […]

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