What is USDA? USDA stands for United States Department of Agriculture.  USDA is over 150 years old and was initially designed by Abraham Lincoln. At the time, over 50% of Americans lived on farms compared to the 2% today.  USDA is involved in not only farms, but also housing, nutrition, food, education, and development. With an estimated 2015 budget of 140 billion, USDA serves a lot of Americans directly and indirectly. Programs such as WIC are even funded by USDA. In fact, 76% of USDA’s outlays is nutrition assistance related. The rest is divided between conservation and forestry at 8% and farm and commodity programs at 11% and all other programs make up 5%. The strategic goal of USDA is to assist rural communities in creating prosperity so they are self-sustaining, repopulating, and economically thriving. Home loans fall within this goal. Assisting Americans in rural areas with the dream of homeownership is extremely important in these communities. If families own homes they will grow and prosper, thus giving back to these communities.