To meet the evolving needs of a 21st century agricultural economy - U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has presented USDA's Blueprint for Stronger Service. It's a plan Vilsack says will help producers continue to drive America's economy by streamlining operations and cutting costs. Just like families and businesses across the country - Vilsack says USDA can't continue to operate like it did 50 years ago. He says it's important to innovate, modernize and be better stewards of taxpayer dollars. The blueprint is based on a Department-wide review of operations conducted as part of the Administration's Campaign to Cut Waste. Vilsack says the result is a plan that will create optimal use of USDA's employees, better results for USDA customers and greater efficiencies for the taxpayers.

Vilsack notes USDA has heard from producers about reducing red tape and the need to modernize services. He says the department is answering the challenge by announcing this series of efforts to streamline operations and provide the best possible service.

Among other things - USDA plans to close 259 domestic offices, facilities and labs across the country - as well as seven foreign offices - and consolidate hundreds of cell phone plans into about 10. For detailed fact sheets on the Blueprint for Stronger Service can be found at www dot usda dot gov slash strongerservice (www.usda.gov/strongerservice).