USDA Plan to Move Jobs Out of D.C. And Closer to Farmers Draws Mixed Reviews

By Frank Morris

In July, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins dropped a plan in the form of a 5-page memo to shake up the USDA.

More than half the agency’s Washington, D.C., jobs – some 2,000 positions – were to be divided among five new hubs strung out across the middle of the country. Jobs would be sent to Raleigh, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Fort Collins, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. The memo also called for shuttering a major research center in Maryland.

The general idea of moving USDA jobs out of D.C. wasn’t new, but Rollins’ proposal took legislators and lobbyists representing farmers, ranchers, and the rest of the vast agriculture industry by surprise.

Proposed new U.S. Department of Agriculture hubs

The USDA wants to relocate employees from Washington D.C. to five cities across the U.S.

Amy Klobuchar, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and other lawmakers were furious that a plan to reorganize the sprawling Department of Agriculture was hatched in secret with little to no input from anyone involved in agriculture.