USDA Relocation Plan Raises Service, Staff Disruption Concerns

By Ryan Hanrahan

Progressive Farmer’s Jerry Hagstrom and Todd Neeley reported that “with the release of the Trump administration’s plans to reorganize the USDA including moving more than 2,000 employees out of Washington, D.C., agriculture interest groups, federal lawmakers, and others expressed concern about whether the move would disrupt services.”

“Most headquarters employees in Washington will be relocating to five regional USDA hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah,” Hagstrom and Neeley reported. “Agriculture groups say they are closely watching the situation while members of Congress are calling for hearings.”

“National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said while his group supports efforts to ‘enhance’ USDA efficiency, there is concern that such a ‘large-scale restructuring or relocation of agency offices could result in significant staff turnover, loss of institutional knowledge and service disruptions, at a time when farmers, ranchers and their communities critically depend on these services to stay afloat,’” Hagstrom and Neeley reported.

“Kathleen Merrigan, the first agriculture deputy secretary in the Obama administration, said one of the reasons cited for the changes — to move USDA employees closer to farmers — doesn’t make sense,” Hagstrom and Neeley reported. “‘With 90% of employees in the field, USDA has always been a field-based department, so marketing this as a strategy to be closer to farmers doesn’t add up,’ she said. ‘As for saving money, the reorganization will cost more than it will save. The biggest impact, if Congress allows this to proceed, will be loss of more civil service talent, the result of forcing USDA leaders to choose between their careers and the needs of their families.’”

“National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Policy Director Mike Lavender said the administration should consult farmers before reorganizing the agency,” Hagstrom and Neeley reported. “‘Without input from farmers, the proposed USDA reorganization would close offices and lead to further staff reductions — and ultimately farmers would pay the price,’ he said.”

E&E News’ Marc Heller reported that “the freshly installed deputy secretary of the Agriculture Department will testify this week on the agency’s plan to vacate buildings and relocate more than half of its 4,600 Washington-area employees to other parts of the country. Stephen Vaden, who was sworn in July 7 and will lead the reorganization effort, should expect sharp questions Wednesday from the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, which hastily called the hearing after the USDA announced the plan without first informing lawmakers.”

Relocations Could Lead to Loss of Senior Staff and Institutional Knowledge

KCCI’s Jackie DeFusco reported that “Chad Hart, a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University, said the plan could lead to a loss of senior staff. ‘We will likely see a brain drain out of USDA. Not everybody is going to just want to pick up and move to some of these regional centers,’ Hart said.”

“A report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office suggests that’s what happened during President Donald Trump’s first term,” DeFusco reported. “In 2019, USDA relocated two research agencies ― the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) ― to Kansas City.”

“ERS’s and NIFA’s workforce size and productivity temporarily declined,’ the report said,” according to DeFusco’s reporting. ‘Coinciding with the loss of staff in fiscal years 2019 and 2020, ERS produced fewer key reports, and NIFA took longer to process grants.’ The report said operations largely recovered by the end of fiscal year 2021, though the workforce was composed mostly of new employees with less experience after the transition.”

The Associated Press’ John O’Connor and Sarah Raza reported that “Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the labor union representing federal workers, had a sharper critique. He said about 85% of all federal employees already work outside the capital, but insisted Washington ‘is the center of our nation’s government for a reason.’”

“Workers at headquarters help coordinate between senior leaders and field offices, Kelley said, and they ensure the agency has a ‘seat at the table’ when lawmakers and the White House make decisions that affect farmers nationwide,” O’Connor and Raza reported. “‘I’m concerned this reorganization is just the latest attempt to eliminate USDA workers and minimize their critical work,’ the union leader said.”

Ag Secretary Estimates 50–70% of DC Employees will Relocate

Politico’s Jordan Wolman reported that “Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday that her ‘best guess’ is that 50–70% of USDA workers based in the Washington area will relocate to the department’s five new hubs around the country.”

“Rollins, speaking on Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom,’ said USDA may fill vacant positions with people based in the areas of Salt Lake City; Fort Collins, Colorado; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; and Raleigh, North Carolina, where the department wants to grow its footprint as part of a reorganization plan she announced Thursday,” Wolman reported. “‘Our best guess is that perhaps 50–70% of our Washington, D.C., staff will want to move — they will actually take that relocation,’ she said.

“Rollins suggested that the USDA workers based in the capital region who don’t relocate should seek jobs in the private sector,” Wolman reported. “‘The economy is beginning to thrive again,’ she said. ‘The golden age is here. President Trump’s vision was always to move people out of these government jobs, where maybe it isn’t the most productive use, into the private sector.’”

USDA Relocation Plan Raises Service, Staff Disruption Concerns was originally published by Farmdoc.