Thread with facts about this move. 
ERS & NIFA don’t need to be “close to producers” as farmers are not their stakeholders. Their stakeholders are Congress, USDA policy officials, & researchers, all of which reside in DC & who use their research to create policy for the benefit of farmers.
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As Laura Dodson, a USDA researcher has said, “We do a national level of research. Suggesting we could be better researchers seeing a single cornfield in one state is wrong. We are in service of national agriculture, we service all, not just one region or a specific few.”
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...and the state-funded Port Authority of #KCMO has already moved forward with a plan to provide $19.7M in incentives to the USDA’s landlord over a 15-year period.
The relocation has already caused significant issues: the USDA is struggling to fill hundreds of open jobs...
The relocation has already caused significant issues: the USDA is struggling to fill hundreds of open jobs...
... and is offering recent retirees half their previous salary to become temps. The Economic Research Service is shedding projects. Research funding may be delayed, even canceled. It will take YEARS to rebuild after this. harvestpublicmedia.org/post/critics-r…
The move has delayed key studies & millions in funding. Staff numbers at both agencies have plummeted by about 75% since the relocation. At NIFA, the employees who approve the grant paperwork & release funds are gone.
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The publishing staff at ERS didn’t accept the reassignment to #KCMO. The flow of research & grants from these agencies has slowed, employees say. The nearly 40 delayed reports include studies into veterans’ diets, honeybee health & the opioid epidemic.
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☝️ #Missouri Senators .@RoyBlunt & .@SenHawleyPress
Other reports address obesity, international markets and organic foods. These studies are completed but unpublished. Other ERS projects, in earlier stages, have been abandoned.
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Other reports address obesity, international markets and organic foods. These studies are completed but unpublished. Other ERS projects, in earlier stages, have been abandoned.
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The Republican admin had already cut these agency’s staff by > 1/2 when this move was announced.
Regarding the move, GAO found the USDA had “not obtained Congressional approval, as required by Section 717(a) of the Omnibus Act, & has not complied with the reporting deadline...
Regarding the move, GAO found the USDA had “not obtained Congressional approval, as required by Section 717(a) of the Omnibus Act, & has not complied with the reporting deadline...
...requirement in Section 753 of the Omnibus Act.” See usda.gov/oig/webdocs/91…
55% of NIFA & ERS workers declined the move. That helps quantify the cost of brain drain, & further means taxpayers have paid for decades of training that is now lost.
npr.org/2019/09/10/759…
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55% of NIFA & ERS workers declined the move. That helps quantify the cost of brain drain, & further means taxpayers have paid for decades of training that is now lost.
npr.org/2019/09/10/759…
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When this was announced, the USDA had literally MILLIONS of sq ft of space in DC & 6000 vacant office seats. ERS & NIFA clearly could’ve occupied some of that already existing space & this makes clear Perdue’s claim that this was some “cost saving measure” was utter bullshit.
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According to the USDA’s cost/benefit analysis (delivered late & long after Perdue said it would be), ERS & NIFA employees were offered $50K to cover “residential real estate, transport & storage of household goods, & travel” from D.C. to #KCMO for the employee & family.
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The average home in #KCMO costs $150K.
Over 1100 scientists opposed the move, as did multiple land grant universities. Fifty-six former USDA officials called for NIFA and ERS to stay in DC. They were, obviously, ignored.
ucsusa.org/about/news/mor…
Over 1100 scientists opposed the move, as did multiple land grant universities. Fifty-six former USDA officials called for NIFA and ERS to stay in DC. They were, obviously, ignored.
ucsusa.org/about/news/mor…
As of October 2019, and based on the latest data from USDA, 64% of the ERS workforce is vacant, while 75% of NIFA positions are empty. That’s...bad.
The rest of the thread is receipts. Gratitude to Sarah Snelling for sharing her experience having worked for both agencies.
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The rest of the thread is receipts. Gratitude to Sarah Snelling for sharing her experience having worked for both agencies.
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