With no official counts on the number of employees the Trump administration has laid off at the Agriculture Department or in what division, DTN/The Progressive Farmer has assembled what information is available in an analysis.

The article also noted that, “speaking Tuesday on RFD-TV, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, ‘The United States Department of Agriculture is filled with incredible, hard-working people. But there’s also some realignment that needs to happen. Only 6% of our workforce actually goes into the office. There’s 106,000 employees and 29 different departments. Are we doing everything to the best of our ability with the best people to serve our farmers and our ranchers?'”

An anonymous USDA employee on Wednesday called out DTN for quoting Rollins above and not fact-checking that statement.

A report by the Office of Personnel Management in 2024 showed USDA had 112,659 employees in fiscal year 2023 with 26,449 eligible for “telework” that year. The percentage of employees who worked remotely and did not work in the office was 23% of the workforce, meaning 77% of USDA employees actually worked in their offices nationwide that year.