A centralised location for a variety of USDA agency field offices. These have been reduced in number from about 3,700 to about 2,600 through closures and consolidations initiated as part of a USDA reorganisation and streamlining effort mandated by the Department of Agriculture reorganisation Act of 1994. In 1999, USDA was still considering the closure of some additional offices. The centres are intended to provide "one-stop shopping" for clients of the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and USDA's rural development agencies.