A Large Number of USDA Employees Left the Department in ’25

According to a report from the USDA inspector general, more than 20,000 employees left the Agriculture Department during the first five months of the Trump presidency. That’s roughly 20 percent of the USDA staff. Most of those employees left through the DOGE financial incentive program. More than 30 percent of the staff left the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Twenty-four percent of the Farm Service Agency employees and 22 percent of the NRCS staff left the Ag Department.