Short answers, pulled from the story.
Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act to create an independent Department of Agriculture on the 15th of May 1862. The new agency started with only eight employees and a commissioner without Cabinet status.
Isaac Newton became the first commissioner to lead this small team after its creation in 1862. Henry Leavitt Ellsworth had served as Commissioner of Patents since 1837 before the department gained independence.
Approximately 33,270 full-time equivalent staff work within the Forest Service according to FY2023 data. This agency stands as the largest unit within the department and administers national forests and grasslands covering about 25% of all federal lands.
Seventy-one percent of the USDA's $213 billion budget funds nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income and homeless people each month.
Judge Paul L. Friedman approved the Pigford v. Glickman settlement on the 14th of April 1999. The agreement recognized discrimination against 22,363 black farmers but excluded more than 70,000 others.