United States Department of Agriculture

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2024 – The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Administrator, Hubert Hamer, retired March 31, after more than 44 years of service at the agency.

NASS’s Associate Administrator, Joseph L. Parsons, has assumed the role of Acting Administrator, and beginning May 1, Joseph J. Prusacki, NASS’s National Operations Division Director, will assume the role of Acting Associate Administrator.

“As I reflect on my career at NASS, I am mindful of many accomplishments and milestones we have collectively achieved to support our mission,” said Hamer. “NASS is a unique organization with exceptional employees dedicated to providing essential data for our data users. I have been fortunate to engage our broad data user community and hear their appreciation for the data products that we produce and our outstanding customer service. It has been an honor to serve as your colleague through the years and I will cherish the wonderful memories. It will be the people and our relationships that I will miss. It is hard to believe the years have gone so quickly, which indicates to me that I never lost my curiosity and passion for public service. I am eager to start a new chapter with time to reflect on how to squeeze the most joy and happiness out of this new endeavor called retirement.”

Appointed as NASS Administrator in 2016, Hamer brought experience in all aspects of the agency’s work. Before becoming Administrator, he served as Director of the Statistics Division, which produces and releases more than 400 national statistical reports each year covering the agency’s crops, livestock, economic, demographic, environmental and census programs. He also served as Executive Director of the NASS Agricultural Statistics Board and Executive Director of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture Statistics, as well as the Chair of the Agricultural Statistics Board from 2010-2016.

Parsons was named Associate Administrator in 2023, where he was responsible for oversight and coordination of agency operations and the agricultural statistics program carried out within the various organizational units in NASS. He formerly served as Chair of USDA’s Agricultural Statistics Board and director of the NASS Methodology Division.

As Director of the National Operations Division, Prusacki has provided leadership and oversight to sustaining the high quality of NASS operations since 2014. He also served in a variety of positions throughout his career at NASS, including Statistics Division Director, Crops Branch Chief, and Iowa Field Office Director.