USDA Graduate School Part II

A while back I posted about the USDA Graduate School. The general point to the post was a generic quandary I have always had about government and the fact that they engage in activities that have no compelling national interest. The USDA grad program is one of my favorite examples of that.

So four months go by and I get the following e-mail. I suspect the sender works for either the graduate school or the Ag, but I will respect their privacy and not publish their name. I suspect the note was meant to be a private conversation and was not done as an official communication by a government official.

GS USDA is a NAFI. That means, unlike federal government agencies, they do NOT receive any appropriation. They have to earn their bread through tuition. You can check with OMB to validate this fact.

I accept that, but it does not address my larger point, and I sent the following reply:

“Care to address the larger point of the post and explain the reason USDA feels the need to run a school to teach valuable skills like Photography? Do you need farmers to take pictures to verify they are not growing the crops we subsidize?

“I’ve got nothing against Ag, but your school is indicative of big government doing things it has no business doing.

“If this school were run by the education department, I’d let it slide. What compelling national agriculture interest is served by the USDA’s graduate program?”

I’ll let you know if they reply…

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