Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service, at the National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees Annual Training Conference St. Louis, MO
December 2, 2003

It is a pleasure to be here today to talk about where NRCS is headed and to touch a bit on the role of the National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees in helping us reach our goals.

Last year when I addressed this conference in Texas, I was awestruck by the level of enthusiasm, intimacy, and energy. So I have been looking forward to this meeting for months.

I want to thank Bill Hunt and all the many people who made this training conference possible. It takes a lot of work to put together a conference of this size and make it work smoothly. You have all done a great job.

The need for training has never been greater. There is simply no way we can implement our mission, let alone the 2002 farm bill without a well trained and well equipped workforce.

As you know, the 2002 farm bill is providing a record level of investment in conservation on America’s farms and ranches. Putting the farm bill to work requires new ways of doing business. We need to form new partnerships, and we need to build a strong Technical Service Provider system if we are to succeed.

I have described this changing role for NRCS as becoming more of a catalyst or enabler for conservation. That means with the workload we have, we need to work more with others to help get conservation done.

I see an important role for the Organization as a catalyst in the new NRCS. The Organization is dedicated to adding value to NRCS by serving as a bridge to communities. This is a good role for the Organization, as NRCS and the rest of the department work to increase the level of service to traditionally underserved populations.

We are working to make NRCS services and programs available to all segments of the producer community, wherever they live in the 50 states. All of our programs are an opportunity for the members of the Organization and others to build bridges to important agricultural communities.

The Organization is also playing a role in building diversity throughout the conservation partnership. Last spring, we held a Partnership Diversity Summit in Washington, DC. The session brought together the leaders of several major partner organizations: NACD, NARC&DC, NASCA, and NCDEA, along with the presidents of most of the NRCS employee organizations.

We had a productive session discussing what we all need to do to increase the diversity of our leadership structures and improve our service to traditionally underserved populations. One of the action steps at that meeting was greater interaction between the professional and partner organizations. That panel of presenters follows me on today’s agenda.


CIVIL RIGHTS POLICY STATEMENT

I would like to talk a bit about the NRCS Civil Rights Policy Statement. The statement was fairly new when I spoke at this conference last year in Texas. I said then that I stand behind every word in this statement – and that is still true.

I am working hard to make sure NRCS lives up to the commitment represented by this policy. As an agency, we need to live up to this policy with regard to our workforce. We need to match the diversity of our recruiting to the diversity of our nation. This is particularly true for recruiting African American employees.

There is under-representation of African Americans employees within USDA. Addressing this situation will take hard work all across the nation, and it will take time. We will need strong recruiting today, and we will need to work with the 1890 schools, other colleges and universities, and in communities around the country to build a stronger recruiting base in the future.

Beyond recruiting, we also need to make sure that all of our employees have an opportunity to move up in the Agency. We also need to retain the diversity we already have, even as we face the upcoming loss of many of our experienced employees through retirement.


Competitive Sourcing

Another workforce issue is competitive sourcing.

I know that the concept of Competitive Sourcing has been very unsettling to many NRCS employees, particularly for employees whose jobs are being studied. But I want you to know that we value your contributions to this great agency, that we will make this effort fair and equitable, and that we will use all the tools at our disposal to ease the transition of any employees who wind up being affected by competitive sourcing.

There are a few things I would like you to keep in mind when you are thinking about Competitive Sourcing. First, Competitive Sourcing is not a reflection on the quantity or quality of your service or your dedication to conservation. Second, it is not directed at NRCS. It is a government-wide effort, to bring down the costs of government services – to provide value to the taxpayer. Third, Competitive Sourcing is not an effort to get rid of government employees. There are no workforce reduction targets.

In FY 2003, we studied more than 1,200 positions. That was about 30% of the total we are called on to study in the entire competitive sourcing process – from now through 2007. And nearly twice the number as was targeted for FY 2003. In nearly all the studies, NRCS could provide the services more economically than the private sector. So, of 1200 positions studied, only a handful went out of the agency.

Getting an approved plan for competitive sourcing in FY 2004 has been a slow process, so we decided to proceed under the 2004 draft plan for the time being. This plan assumes that we will be able to count Technical Service Providers toward the NRCS competitive sourcing goal for the year. So we will be studying many fewer positions than would otherwise be the case. Information on the draft plan will be posted on the competitive sourcing web site in the next few days.

The key to studying these jobs is to devote the time and energy needed to describe the functions accurately. We will need your help in making these comparisons.

I am committed to helping affected employees in every way possible. Whenever one of our studies results in work moving out of the Federal government, we will do everything we can to retain affected employees within NRCS and to assist those people into the career options of their choice.


NRCS Reorganization

Another workforce issue is our proposed reorganization. As we at NRCS move to become catalysts of conservation, our emphasis on conservation planning and the technology that supports us will become increasingly important.

As you know, we are reorganizing our activities above the State office level. We are doing this to strengthen our ability to help America’s farmers and ranchers reach their conservation goals and offer them the latest science-based technologies. We will do this by emphasizing the services that various headquarters functions provide to the States and field offices.

This proposed reorganization will strengthen the multi-disciplinary technology support to States; consolidate similar functions to enhance communications and coordination (form follows function); align human capital resources with mission, goals and organizational objectives; provide an improved career ladder for technical personnel; and balance Deputy areas and workload at the national level.

The reorganization will not directly affect State, area, and field office personnel. For those currently assigned to Institutes, Cooperating Scientist positions, regional offices, and the divisions being changed at national headquarters, this can be a time of uncertainty. However, change also creates many opportunities. Over the course of the next few months, we will be working hard to provide regular updates.

We will not be reducing NRCS staffing through this proposed reorganization. I am committed to offer a position to every employee affected by this reorganization and to using the full range of personnel tools to ease the transition for everyone involved.

We submitted the reorganization package to the Department the middle of October and hope to have it approved fairly soon. I assure you that a full Civil Rights analysis was part of the package.

Once we have approval, we will implement the reorganization as quickly as possible. That will be this winter.

You can look for the latest information on the reorganization on the new NRCS employee intranet – my.NRCS. The new intranet is available to employees only and is your key to all kinds of information about NRCS. All you need to access my.NRCS is your WebTCAS username and pin.


Farm Bill Opportunities

Even as we proceed with our reorganization, we must still move forward on farm bill implementation.

As I said at the beginning, the new farm bill makes more resources available to more farmers than ever before. It is important that we all work hard to extend the benefits of the new farm bill to everyone who is eligible. That means doubling our efforts to serve all kinds of farmers. It means reaching out to all communities, including African American farmers and ranchers. It means being open, fair, courteous, and responsive.

USDA is being held increasingly responsible for delivering Agriculture programs to all citizens in this country, and that responsibility flows through agreements and contracts to everywhere Federal dollars are involved. NRCS and all of its partners must live up to this responsibility in everything we do, from meetings with landowners to delivery of services. That is what we have been talking about with our partner organizations.

Many of you are well positioned in your local communities to get our messages out to those who could benefit from our programs and services.


NRCS Priorities for FY 2004

The final thing I want to talk about today is our Agency priorities for the current fiscal year.

Our first priority is to streamline and implement conservation programs. The goal is to improve efficiency in program delivery through clearer and more consistent guidance, and common procedures and processes.

Thank all of you who submitted streamlining suggestions this summer. The Chief’s Advisory Committee reported on your suggestions early in September. We adopted 25 recommendations and assigned various executives to head up implementing them.

We have also streamlined some programs as part of farm bill implementation. In September, we were able to reallocate several million dollars as a result of some of those streamlining measures.

The second priority is to implement the President’s management initiatives. The first of those initiatives is Strategic Management of Human Capital. We must be ready for the retirement bulge. We need good training for present employees And we need good recruiting for new employees. The second Presidential initiative is competitive sourcing, which I already covered in some detail. The other three Presidential management initiatives are improved financial performance, expanding e-government, and budget and program Integration.

Our third priority is to increase outreach and workforce diversity. We must make sure all farmers and ranchers have equal access to our programs. NRCS and its partners must be as diverse as the communities we serve

And our fourth priority is to enable conservation delivery by modernization and expansion of Technical Capacity. One way of doing this is to continue updating our technical standards and writing new ones to accommodate new technologies. Other ways include our reorganization and effective use of Technical Service Providers.


Conclusion

So, there are challenging times ahead for all of us in our effort to become the catalysts of conservation.

I know, because you are attending this week’s conference, that you have the dedication and the energy to help NRCS meet these challenges.

Bill, I want to correct you on one thing. You called us the “vanguard of our nation’s conservation system.” If we embrace change and strive for excellence, we will be known as the vanguard of the world’s conservation systems.

I wish you good luck and continued success.