249 Farm Service Agency offices, NRCS, FAS, APHIS, Rural Development, Food Safety and     Inspection Services and Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Offices are all under the  chopping block.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement Tuesday at the American Farm Bureau Convention in Hawaii.

These locations join the 12 labs at 10 locations that ARS received permission from Congress to close this fiscal year. More reductions are expected.

Nine of the closings are in Missouri.

Farm Services Agency offices are closing in Jefferson, Dallas, and Morgan Counties.   Food and Nutrition Service offices are closing in St. Louis County and in Jackson County.   The USDA is closing the Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Stoddard County. Rural Development offices are being closed in Hillsboro, Jefferson City, Carthage, and in Jackson, in southeast Missouri.

“We understood this day was coming and we have been proactive,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said.  “First, we started last year by reducing travel, supplies and printing cost by an aggregate of nearly $90 million.  Second, also last year many agencies put hiring controls in place and those were followed by the institution of a targeted early retirement and early separation incentive program. ”

More than 4,000 employees of USDA across the nation retired on their own or took the incentives.  So far this fiscal year, more than 2,500 employees have done the same.

“these closings and consolidations will begin taking place over the late winter and spring,” Vilsack said.  “I know that some may be inconvenienced by this choice, but services will not be interrupted.”