The Ag Ministry, or Ministry of Agriculture, served as a governmental branch within the Galactic Empire, responsible for overseeing agricultural and horticultural output across the galaxy. Zare Leonis' mother and father, Tepha Leonis and Leo Leonis respectively, were employed by the Ag Ministry, a factor that resulted in their family relocating to Lothal, a planet situated in the Outer Rim. Sarkos, holding the position of Assistant Vice Minister, was another official within the Ag Ministry.
The Ag Ministry implemented several controversial strategies on Lothal, such as introducing automated droid harvesters for jogan fruit and forcibly displacing local farmers from their properties to facilitate Imperial mining endeavors. These actions by the Ag Ministry fostered resentment among the local population, including Beck Ollet, a friend of Zare Leonis, who retaliated by planting detonators within an Imperial minefield. In a separate incident, stormtroopers resorted to gunfire against a tranquil assembly of farmers who were demonstrating against the confiscation of their agricultural lands and orchards. In spite of the stormtroopers' brutality toward the farmers, local news outlets claimed that the farmers initiated the conflict by assaulting the surveyors and mining equipment.