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When USDA Cuts Staff, Farmers Pay the Price: Lessons from the ERS and NIFA Relocations

ERS

When USDA Cuts Staff, Farmers Pay the Price: Lessons from the ERS and NIFA Relocations

May 12, 2025

In a move reminiscent of past disruptions but at a much larger scale, the Trump administration is implementing widespread staffing cuts across federal agencies. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is facing a significant reduction, expecting approximately 30,000 USDA positions to be eliminated. About 16,000 employees have already accepted deferred resignation offers. This downsizing […]

Filed Under: Carousel, Grants and Programs

Path to a New Farm Bill: Sustainable and Organic Research 

September 17, 2024

Editor’s Note: This post is the fifth post in a multi-part series exploring some of the key sustainable agriculture and food systems challenges that the farm bill can address. Through a series of posts comparing the House and Senate Agriculture Committees’ proposals, we provide an assessment of how each chamber’s bill would address a given […]

Filed Under: Carousel, Climate Change, Farm Bill, Organic, Research, Education & Extension

From Commodification to Conservation: Restoring Agrobiodiversity Through Seed Breeding – Part I: 

October 5, 2023

This post is the first in a two-part series about seed breeding. It explores the history of seed breeding in the US, the impacts of consolidation and concentration of seed breeding on farmers and our food systems, and what a more democratic seed breeding system might look like. … Read More →

Filed Under: Carousel, Research, Education & Extension

Comment: Farm, Union and Science Groups Urge Congress to Stand Strong Against USDA Relocation

October 21, 2019

Statement prepared by AFGE, ASA, NFU, NSAC, and UCS urging Congress to stand by ERS and NIFA research that supports farmers and consumers. … Read More →

Filed Under: Press Releases, Research, Education & Extension

New Beginning Farmer Analysis Highlights Value of USDA’s Economic Research Service

October 10, 2019

The Economic Research Service (ERS) is the primary federal research agency for economic and statistical information about our country’s food and farm sector and related policies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). ERS publications and research findings provide essential data and analysis that helps identify trends and inform policymakers and other stakeholders about the […]

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Research, Education & Extension

Farmers and Policy-Makers Need USDA Research Agencies in Washington

June 6, 2019

On Wednesday, June 5, 2019, Congress hosted its second hearing on the proposed relocation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The issue is raising serous concern among the agriculture and research communities, as well as a growing number of Members of […]

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Research, Education & Extension

RELEASE: FY 2020 House Agriculture Appropriations Bill Proposes to Block ERS NIFA Relocation

May 22, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net FY 2020 House Agriculture Appropriations Bill Proposes to Block ERS NIFA RelocationNSAC applauds agriculture appropriators for proposal to block ERS NIFA relocation and realignment, investments in sustainable agriculture priorities Washington, DC, May 22, 2019 – This morning the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee released […]

Filed Under: Press Releases

Congress Reintroduces Bill to Keep Research Agencies in Nation’s Capital

February 14, 2019

Amidst ongoing budget negotiations to prevent another government shutdown, Members of Congress followed through with their commitment to continue to stand up against the proposed move of two premier research institutions from the Capital region.  This week, Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), and 12 other members of Congress reintroduced the Agriculture Research Integrity […]

Filed Under: Research, Education & Extension

RELEASE: New Bill Insists USDA Research Agencies Remain in Nation’s Capital

December 20, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Reana Kovalcik National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition 202-547-5754, rkovalcik@sustainableagriculture.net  New Bill Insists USDA Research Agencies Remain in Nation’s Capital Agriculture Research Integrity Act of 2018 (HR 7330) introduced today Washington DC, December 20, 2018 – Responding to the Trump Administration’s plan to relocate and reorganize the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the […]

Filed Under: Budget and Appropriations, Press Releases, Research, Education & Extension

Ag Leaders Speak Out Against Pending Move of Federal Research Agencies

November 29, 2018

Lending their voices to the growing opposition against the proposed relocation and reorganization of the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), 21 former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists, Undersecretaries, and Land-Grant University leaders submitted a letter today to House and Senate Agriculture and Appropriations Committee leadership. In […]

Filed Under: Research, Education & Extension

USDA Stalwart in Plan to Move ERS and NIFA Despite Mounting Opposition

October 12, 2018

It’s been over 60 days since the Administration shocked the research community with a proposal to relocate the headquarters of two major federal research agencies. Under the Administration’s plan, both the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Economic Research Service (ERS) would lose their historic homes in the nation’s capital and be […]

Filed Under: Research, Education & Extension

Trump Administration Proposes to Uproot Ag Research

August 22, 2018

August in the capital is typically quiet; when legislators head home for the August recess, those of us who work in the world of federal agricultural policy are given a brief respite from an otherwise breakneck cycle of news and deadlines. This year, however, is not following traditional cycles. Faced with an ever-growing to-do list, […]

Filed Under: Research, Education & Extension

Conservation Compliance is a Key Thread in Farm Safety Net

August 2, 2017

In order to be eligible for most federal farm programs, including the taxpayer subsidized federal crop insurance program, farmers whose land includes highly erodible areas or wetlands must adhere to specific conservation requirements. These requirements, known collectively as conservation compliance, are in place to ensure that our shared natural resources have a minimum level of […]

Filed Under: Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs, Conservation, Energy & Environment

The Challenge of Assessing Food Safety Compliance Costs

June 22, 2017

In 2006, an E. coli outbreak linked to spinach grown and packed in California resulted in the infection of nearly 200 people across the country; the outbreak was so serious that in some cases the infections resulted in deaths. This serious food safety lapse was one of the key catalysts for introducing stricter requirements for […]

Filed Under: Food Safety

USDA Microloan Program is a Good Fit for Small Family Farms

January 4, 2017

America is a nation of family farmers – nearly half of all production comes from small and medium-sized family farms. Like any small business owner, these farmers occasionally need infusions of relatively small amounts of capital to sustain and grow their operations, but often have trouble accessing funds through traditional lenders because of a lack […]

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs

Land Tenure and Turnover: How Are Beginning Farmers Affected?

September 8, 2016

It’s no secret: farmers need land to farm, and lately they are having an increasingly difficult time obtaining it. Today, nearly half of all farmland is rented and many farmers are forced to cobble together plots of land by contracting with multiple landlords in multiple locations. Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research […]

Filed Under: Beginning and Minority Farmers, Research, Education & Extension

Farm Bill Income Cap for Program Payment Eligibility Affects Few Farms

August 23, 2016

  Editors Note: This is a republishing of a recent article by Ron Durst and Robert Williams, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) Amber Waves magazine. The use of means tests in federal entitlement programs, using income levels to determine eligibility for funds, is a common –if not controversial– practice. For decades, […]

Filed Under: Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs

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