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Over 50 agriculture research and commodity groups have sent a letter expressing concern over USDA plans to reorganize its research agencies. In a letter sent to the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, they warned lawmakers that permanently closing or significantly reducing Agricultural Research Service laboratories “would represent an irreversible loss, not just of physical infrastructure, but of ongoing research programs whose value compounds over time.”
The letter noted a 2019 relocation effort prompted 40% to 60% of staff at the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to leave the agencies instead of moving. “The loss of managerial experience was so severe that it directly impaired the agencies’ ability to make hiring decisions to rebuild,” they stated.
The coalition also raised alarms about staffing losses from last year, emphasizing that administrators did not refill many vacated positions. The organizations highlighted delays in federal research funding distribution, stating that these delays are “disrupting ongoing research projects, forcing reductions in university research workforces, and causing researchers to lose critical momentum on multi-year projects that directly support farmer productivity and rural economies.”
The full letter is available here.
SOURCE: NPC