The Trump administration is proposing a nearly 20 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s discretionary budget for fiscal year 2027, outlining a sweeping plan to shrink the agency’s footprint while redirecting resources toward what it calls core agricultural priorities.
The proposal from President Trump seeks $20.8 billion for USDA, a $4.9 billion decrease from current levels. Administration officials described the department as an overextended bureaucracy and said the plan would eliminate programs deemed outside its mission, reduce staffing and shift more operations closer to rural communities.
Central to the proposal is a broader reorganization effort, including more than $50 million to relocate federal employees from Washington to five regional hubs—including Indianapolis. The administration says the move would improve service to farmers and ranchers while cutting management layers.
The budget also emphasizes forest management and increased domestic timber production, alongside a restructuring of federal wildfire response. It calls for giving states a greater role in managing forest lands and consolidating wildfire operations under a unified federal approach.
At the same time, the plan targets a range of programs for cuts or elimination. These include a $510 million reduction in research funding through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, with a shift toward competitive grants, and the elimination of $659 million in community facilities grants, which the administration says have strayed from their original purpose.
Additional reductions include $82 million from the Rural Business Service and $61 million from the Agricultural Marketing Service. International food aid programs would also be sharply curtailed, including the elimination of the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program and steep reductions to Food for Peace funding.
The proposal would also reduce staffing across key USDA agencies, including the Farm Service Agency, which is projected to lose more than a quarter of its workforce by 2027.
Despite the cuts, some areas would see increases, including funding for emergency coordination and departmental restructuring.
The budget reflects the administration’s broader push to reduce non-defense spending and reshape federal agencies. However, as with all presidential budget proposals, the plan faces an uncertain path in Congress, which ultimately determines federal spending.
CLICK HERE to read the 2027 fiscal year budget proposal report from the Trump administration.
