First things first. This is a mantra all parents have repeated to their children.

Do the important things first. These are the needs. Then, if there’s time and money left, take care of the wants.

It seems USDA has forgotten this fundamental lesson. Instead of concentrating on the needs, the agency has wandered into the wilderness of wants.

USDA has sprayed billions of dollars across the landscape for such projects as putting solar panels on breweries and other buildings that have precious little to do with agriculture, overspending to connect rural homes to the internet, spending money to tell people how they can get more money from the USDA and doling out money to farmers and processors, whether they need it or not.

It’s as though USDA’s boss, Tom Vilsack, and his crew are working overtime to give away taxpayer money.

Or maybe it’s just a reminder that the federal government’s primary job has mutated into collecting money from the citizenry and redistributing it to recipients with whom the administration wants to curry favor.

In the process, the federal government has been transformed into an ATM as special interests line up with their hands out.

As if that were not enough, the administration and Congress manage to spend not just the proceeds of the taxes that are collected, but more.

A lot more.

The result is shocking. So far this fiscal year, the federal government has spent $1.1 trillion more than it has taken in, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. As a result, the total federal debt has surged to $34 trillion. About $522 billion, 16% of the annual federal budget, will go to servicing that debt this year alone.

What provokes this mini-sermon is an announcement USDA made last week. The agency said it was cutting back the reports the National Agricultural Statistics Service provides.

The reason it gave: not enough money. Apparently, USDA has plenty of money to spray across the landscape as political favors but not to take care of the fundaments.

The needs, if you will.

NASS provides a bedrock service to the nation’s farmers and ranchers. No one else can do it. NASS surveys are independent and provide information that allows everyone to see what’s happening in agriculture. That is the only way an open and efficient market can exist.

Yet USDA cut this year’s NASS budget by $23.6 million to $187.5 million. In federal budget-writing circles, that’s pocket change, but it means the July cattle inventory report will be dropped, along with several other reports. Mind you, USDA’s total budget last year was $209.3 billion.

Such a move is ironic for an administration that has promoted competition in the livestock markets. President Biden and Secretary Vilsack have both gone on record saying there needs to be more competition in livestock markets. Yet the only way to guarantee that is to have an unfettered flow of information from a neutral source: NASS.

USDA has a specific list of needs for its budget. Among the priorities are adequate funding for NASS reports. USDA must also make sure crop insurance is adequately funded to protect farmers and ranchers against catastrophes. Otherwise, the nation’s food supply will be at risk. Research is another area that must be adequately funded.

Those and other needs must be addressed first, and the wants must take a back seat.