Editor's Note: Each year, DTN publishes our choices for the Top 10 ag new stories of the year -- issues and events -- as selected by DTN analysts, editors and reporters. This year, we're counting them down from Dec. 18 to Dec. 31. On Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, we will look at some of the runners-up for this year. Today, we continue the countdown with No. 7: How the Trump administration used its DOGE initiative to slash government spending and eliminate staff, and the impact it had on agriculture and farmers.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- The Trump administration blew into Washington in January like a wildfire moving across a drought-stricken prairie.

They called it the Department of Government Efficiency -- DOGE. For five months, billionaire Elon Musk led a small group of computer-savvy contractors who took credit for canceling billions in contracts and indiscriminately firing federal employees. Musk left in May after a fallout with President Trump and DOGE now no longer exists. Musk and the administration now find themselves in myriad legal battles over DOGE's actions.

Still, the scorched-earth campaign created by DOGE continues to smolder.

The federal government's biggest organization for humanitarian assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was dismantled with more than 80% of its programs eliminated. That forced Congress to move nearly $2 billion in annual farm commodity purchases for foreign aid to USDA as a way to try to ensure some food aid continues to flow. The full scale of cuts to USAID has not been made public by the State Department, but the food aid cuts forced the World Food Program to eliminate or drastically reduce aid to several countries this year.

Across the federal government, the Trump administration initially moved to terminate an estimated 200,000 or so "probationary" employees, meaning they had under two years of federal service.

DOGE staff had been at USDA for at least two weeks at that point. USDA called the initial terminations as a "workforce optimization" move.

A federal board ruled the firings were illegal, so the Trump administration fired the board.

Federal judges have ruled in multiple cases that the indiscriminate firing of thousands of probationary employees was illegal.

USDA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) on Dec. 17 released a report highlighting USDAs job terminations. By mid-June, USDA saw a total of 20,306 employees leave their jobs, the report stated.

In April, USDA and other federal departments gave veteran employees the option to quit with six months of pay if they chose to take it. As many as 15,114 USDA employees took the deferred resignation package (DRP).

Along with the DRP, another 1,636 USDA workers were terminated, 1,996 resigned and 1,280 retired.

That included roughly 5,860 employees in the U.S. Forest Service and 2,673 employees at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), or 22% of staff. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) lost 2,105 employees, or 25% of its workforce. Rural Development lost 1,745 employees, or 36% of its employees. Another 1,647 employees at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), or 23%, also left.

By the end of the year, the White House Office of Personnel Management posted there were 249,000 fewer federal employees than at the beginning of the year.

While trying to tackle avian influenza, USDA accidentally fired researchers who were working on the disease. At least 28 people were initially fired at the country's brand-new $1.25 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Kansas -- the country's only level four biosecurity facility for foreign animal diseases.

A few weeks later, speaking to state agricultural directors, Rollins acknowledged some firings were rash though she backed efforts to slash USDA programs.

"I am proud to work with the Department of Government Efficiency, with DOGE, to streamline inefficiencies across the United States Department of Agriculture," Rollins said. "Does that mean we may make some mistakes along the way? Yes, but it also means we'll realize that and fix it while we're streamlining and making it more efficient."

DOGE initially moved to close 111 USDA office contracts across nine agencies, which included 36 NRCS offices and 22 Farm Service Agency offices. At one point, DOGE's website claimed it had canceled rental contracts in every federal office in one Arkansas county.

DOGE's role at USDA reached a point in late April that any FSA loan of $500,000 or more, or any loan to a corporate entity, would need approval by both the Secretary's office and DOGE. DTN detailed that FSA on average approves more than 1,000 loans over $500,000 annually.

USDA also froze payments for more than 1,000 contracts as Rollins and her team moved to eliminate contracts over terms that involve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). "We will end identity politics, identity celebrations and DEI here at USDA and across the federal government," Rollins said in her first speech to staff.

At the 100-day mark of the administration, Rollins said her staff had canceled 3,000 contracts and grants totaling $5.5 billion.

Conservation program payments to producers were also frozen as USDA tried to separate program dollars that came from the farm bill from those that came from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

In early March, more than 10,000 farmers who grow food to sell locally lost $1.13 billion in federal support when USDA stated it would not honor Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) cooperative agreements. The cuts came despite state agricultural directors calling for the programs to be permanently funded. Rollins said they were COVID-era programs that were no longer needed, though the administration at the same time was championing the importance of whole foods as part of the "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. By December, USDA was touting its work to promote local foods through farm-to-school programs.

In July, USDA leadership began plans to reorganize department around five regional hubs that would move more than 2,600 staff positions out of the Washington, D.C., area. That also includes closing the Beltsville, Maryland, Agricultural Research Center, known as BARC. The regional hub cities are: Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Reflecting how the pendulum swings, USDA created a plan to reorganize and create regional centers to bring workers closer to the people they serve. That came after the administration in June ended $360 million in grants for 12 Regional Food Business Centers created in 2023 by the Biden administration to provide grants to help small farmers and rural businesses expand or develop their businesses. While some of the centers were still getting started, they had issued 450 grants that USDA said they would honor.

The administration's reorganization plans were delayed by a six-week federal shutdown this fall. In early December, USDA released a summary of public comments it received on reorganization. Out of 14,000 unique comments, the sentiment -- 82% -- was overwhelmingly negative. More than 2,185 comments were about BARC with 92% opposed to closing the research center despite arguments by leadership that the facility is outdated and costs too much to maintain and upgrade.

USDA plans to complete its reorganization by the end of 2026.

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See Editors' Notebook, "Counting Down Top Ag Stories of 2025," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Other countdown stories:

-- Top 10 Ag Stories of 2025: No. 10, "From RFS Exemptions to E15 in CA, Biofuels Policy Makes News in 2025," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- Top 10 Ag Stories of 2025: No. 9, "Glyphosate Faces Uncertain Future as Lawsuits Mount and Science is Questioned," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- Top 10 Ag Stories of 2025: No. 8, "NWS Causes Threat to US Livestock Industry," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

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