USDA Establishes First-Ever Unified Terms and Conditions for Future Awards
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has signed a new Secretary’s Memorandum directing all USDA staff offices and agencies to “immediately adopt and implement the first-ever set of USDA General Terms and Conditions for all future awards.” The action marks a major shift in how USDA administers grants, cooperative agreements, and related programs, with the goal of improving efficiency, consistency, and accountability.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the change addresses a long-standing administrative challenge. Previously, individual agencies and staff offices operated programs under different sets of terms and conditions, creating confusion and inefficiency. USDA reported that this system resulted in more than 2,200 pages across 100 separate terms and condition documents, making compliance difficult for award recipients and cumbersome for the department to manage.
Under the new policy, USDA says “all USDA grant, cooperative agreement, and mutual interest agreement programs will utilize the same terms and conditions, and award recipients and cooperators will only need to navigate 50 or less pages of requirements.” The standardized framework is expected to significantly reduce paperwork burdens while improving clarity for universities, nonprofits, state agencies, and other partners who work with USDA.
Secretary Rollins emphasized that the memorandum aligns with broader administration priorities focused on efficiency and accountability. She said, “Since Day One, the Trump Administration has been working to promote government efficiency, streamline unnecessary regulations, and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in all USDA programs.” She added that as USDA reviewed its programs, the department uncovered major structural issues within its award systems.
Rollins explained, “As we took action to eliminate radical left ideology and foreign adversaries within these programs, we quickly realized the herculean task of updating over 100 sets of terms and conditions, some of which didn’t even have termination clauses, each time a new policy or priority was announced.” The lack of uniform standards, she said, made it difficult for USDA to respond quickly when program requirements changed.
Beyond reducing bureaucracy, the new General Terms and Conditions strengthen enforcement authority. Rollins noted, “Today’s action not only reduces government bureaucracy and makes it easier for USDA customers to access our programs, but it also strengthens our ability to take swift action when recipients and cooperators—and even recipients of subawards and subcontracts—are not compliant with Federal law and applicable Executive Orders.”
USDA officials say the unified terms will improve oversight, ensure compliance with federal law, and provide clearer expectations for all future awards. By standardizing requirements across the department, USDA aims to modernize its program delivery while maintaining strong safeguards for taxpayer dollars and agricultural partners alike.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.