USDA Launches ‘One Farmer, One File’ to Streamline Farm Program Services
March 2, 2026 U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the “One Farmer, One File” modernization effort at the Commodity Classic Convention in San Antonio in late February. According to USDA, this is another action putting farmers first with sweeping technological improvements at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Through “One Farmer, One File,” USDA’s mission is to create a single, streamlined record that follows the farmer — no matter where they go in the USDA system, according to a USDA release.
“Every single day at USDA, our focus is on making life easier, more profitable, and more rewarding for the American farmer,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins. “Our government for the people by the people should be modern, efficient, and respect taxpayer dollars. This modernization of old, duplicative, wasteful systems has one goal in mind, improve our customer service so the people we serve are able to farm and feed America and the world. ‘One Farmer, One File’ prevents our farmers from duplicating tasks while increases their productivity and time in the field.”
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) work with agricultural producers on a wide range of programs and services, from establishing a farm number to reporting acres planted, and from getting capital to recovering from disasters.
The goal of “One Farmer, One File” is to reduce the administrative burden for farmers. Additionally, this effort will make program delivery more efficient, save time for USDA staff, and decrease spending on disparate information technology systems.
The “One Farmer, One File” initiative is part of a broad modernization effort to unify all FSA, NRCS and RMA systems. This uniformed system will retire legacy systems and remove agency silos. USDA began work on this system in 2025 and plans to greatly advance the effort in 2026. USDA anticipates completing the project in 2028.
The National Cotton Council issued the following response in a press release shortly after Secretary Rollins announced the program:
The National Cotton Council (NCC) appreciates the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “One Farmer, One File” modernization initiative, announced by Secretary Rollins at the Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas. This technological improvement aims to create a single, streamlined record for farmers across USDA agencies, with the goal of significantly reducing administrative burden and improving efficiency.
“This streamlined approach across the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency will allow cotton producers to spend less time on redundant paperwork and more time focused on their fields,” said Nathan Reed, NCC Chairman. “It’s an investment in efficiency that directly benefits the productivity of U.S. cotton farmers.”
NCC looks forward to collaborating with the USDA as they implement this new initiative.
Information compiled from USDA and NCC press releases.
GET THE NEWSLETTER TODAY!
