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Proposed USDA FY16 budget

The U.S. House of Representatives is proposing a $1 billion cut to the USDA budget over 10 years.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says those cuts could come from numerous areas within USDA.

“They can do this in a variety of ways, from our mandatory programs, they can look at the nutrition side, they can look at conservation, they could look at crop insurance, so they have a multitude of options,” Vilsack said.

But the Secretary is making the case that agriculture has already made significant cuts through the Farm Bill and through the way USDA has been operated under his leadership.

“We are currently operating on a budget that’s very, very close if not slightly below where it was in 2009-2010, when I came into office,” the Secretary said. “So we’ve done a very good job of being efficient.”

The Secretary hopes resources will continue to be available that allows USDA to continue providing support to rural America.