TSPi Enhances Customer Experience with Farmers.gov
Highlights
- For years, USDA offices had different ways for farmers and producers to contact them.
- USDA created Farmers.gov to centralize the way people find resources, submit applications and assistance requests, and make connections.
- USDA tapped TSPi to continue enhancing the website and create a one-stop shop for customers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) faced the challenge of streamlining access to information, tools, and resources for farmers, ranchers, and landowners. Farmers.gov was created to centralize the way producers, farmers, ranchers, and foresters could connect with the department to seek technical and financial assistance, including requests for farm loans, crop insurance, conservation cost-sharing assistance, conservation easements, disaster loans, and a host of other services. USDA engaged TSPi to enhance the customer experience using agile methods and support USDA’s Climate Smart Ag initiatives aligned with the Inflation Reduction Act and the anticipated new farm bill.
Farmers.gov, a Salesforce-based, enterprise-wide portal ecosystem, contains two parts:
- An unauthenticated site, which provides customers with open online materials and engagement opportunities with USDA
- An authenticated Transactional Portal with self-service options and tools for external and internal USDA customers to conduct transactions
As the prime contractor, TSPi maintains and enhances Farmers.gov’s integration with other USDA systems, platforms, and databases, so the information gets transferred to the unit that maintains the system of record for the transaction type. The appropriate USDA reviewers of applications for technical or financial assistance provide feedback, and deliberations continue until a resolution.
TSPI’s work enabled real-time updates. MuleSoft Applications Programming Interfaces (APIs) keep Farmers.gov data synchronized in real time with data from other USDA systems such as SAP via change data capture. This enables updates such as profile or relationship status changes to display on the Farmers.gov portal.
The Transactional Portal enables farmers to upload and download documents related to their farms and conservation plans and other information. Farmers can use the mapping functionality to see what part of a large farm is divided up into crops, cattle, wetlands, and other uses. Farmers then can mark up the map, designate the desired land use for different parts, and create a conservation plan for USDA review. Farmers similarly can make changes in a loan application.
Farmers can view, upload, download, and e-sign documents to complete forms online and avoid going in-person to a service center to fill out a paper form manually. USDA Service Centers remain open to maintain traditional, in-person relationships with producers who prefer face-to-face interactions.
Resources:
To help farmers get the most out of Farmers.gov, the USDA has provided a series of tutorial videos that offer step-by-step guidance on using the platform. These videos cover everything from applying for programs to navigating resources and tools.