The White House Office of Management and Budget requires the USDA to maintain a plan for agency operations in the absence of appropriations.
The plan shows a total of 85,907 USDA employees on board before the government shutdown took place on Wednesday morning at 12 am.
According to the plan, a total of 42,256 agency employees were placed on furlough.
The plan shows that the work getting paused during a shutdown includes most of the Risk Management Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, Food and Nutrition Service, and other segments of the agency.
The shutdown particularly affects employees who work face-to-face with farmers.
More than 6,000 of the 9,000-plus Farm Service Agency employees are going on furlough.
By comparison, just 533 of the 7,600-plus people working at the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which regulates meat and poultry processing, are to be furloughed.
