Cabinet department
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
$122.8 Billion committed in FY2019
- Mission
- We provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.
- Sub-agencies
- 21 bureaus and offices
- Website
- https://www.usda.gov/ ↗
- Agency code
- 012
How the money flows
Committed dollars by how the money leaves USDA.
Direct payments
$74.9B
61%
Grants
$35.7B
29%
Contracts
$7.5B
6%
By sub-agency
The bureaus and offices inside USDA, by dollars committed.
Where the money goes
Top destinations of USDA's committed dollars. Direct payments to individuals (Medicare, Social Security, …) are aggregated by the government, so they show as the federal program rather than a named recipient.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance ProgramProgram
$55.6B
Redacted Due to Pii
$16.9B
What they buy
Top products and services USDA buys under contract, by dollars committed.
Meat, Poultry, and Fish
$1.4B
Fruits and Vegetables
$1.4B
Natural Resources/Conservation- Forest-Range Fire Suppression/Presuppression
$632.7M
Food, Oils and Fats
$589.6M
It and Telecom- Other It and Telecommunications
$389.6M
Dairy Foods and Eggs
$316.1M
Bakery and Cereal Products
$248.3M
Information Technology Software
$214.8M
Support- Professional: Other
$178.6M
It and Telecom- Integrated Hardware/Software/Services Solutions, Predominantly Services
$115.0M
Awards
The largest individual awards issued by USDA.
Competition
How competitively USDA's contract dollars were awarded. 'Not available' is legitimate sole-source (a single source — utilities, proprietary parts); 'not competed' is the flag worth a second look.
Competed
$6.7B
89%
Not competed
$366.2M
5%
Not available for competition
$338.5M
Contract set-asides
Contract dollars USDA reserved before bidding for a specific kind of firm — small business, 8(a), service-disabled-veteran, women-owned, HUBZone — versus full and open competition.
Small business
$1.3B
17%
8(a)
$336.3M
4%
Service-disabled veteran
$66.4M
<1%
Where it lands
Top states by place of performance — where USDA's work is done or its money lands, by dollars committed.
California
$12.6B
Texas
$9.7B
By fiscal year
Committed dollars grew 51% across FY2018–FY2025. USDA's committed dollars per fiscal year, FY2018–FY2026.
* FY2026 is year-to-date — the fiscal year is still in progress, so its total is still filling in. The striped band and dashed line mark that provisional stretch.
How to read these numbers
- Committed, not paid
Every figure is money this agency committed — legally promised by signing a contract or awarding a grant — counted in the year each action happened, not cash out the door.
- From FY2018 on
Agency pages start at fiscal year 2018, the first year of complete federal-assistance reporting. Earlier years aren't shown rather than shown wrong.
- Awards, counted once
An award count is the number of distinct awards with at least one action that year — each counted once, however many times it was amended.
- Benefits show as programs
Medicare, Social Security, and other direct payments to individuals are aggregated by the government, so under Where the money goes they appear as the program, not a named recipient.
- The colored bars
Every bar on this page splits by how the money moves:
Direct payments
