USDA Reorg May Not Happen

USDA Reorg May Not Happen

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett
A planned reorganization of the USDA by Secretary Sonny Perdue may have a difficult path forward.

The plan aims to save the agency money by moving the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture out of Washington DC to less expensive areas of the country.

More than 1100 scientists have written to Congress opposing the plan saying it would undermine scientific integrity at the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and could diminish research critical for policy making.

Colorado State University Biology Professor and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Daniel Bush says Perdue is a farmer but may not fully realize that agriculture is not an island by itself.

"Agriculture and the basic questions we're trying to solve are frequently related to the same questions that we're solving with animals. Some of the pathogens with plants that plant pathologists are trying to solve use exactly identical pathways that human pathogens do so there's a great rich interchange between people who work on these different multicellular organisms."

Bipartisan opposition has grown in the House and Senate since the plan was announced. Two members of congress have requested and investigation into the impacts. Bush says if Congress doesn't appropriate funds for the move this year then stakeholders may have say in something that would have a huge impact on research.

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