Trump administration plans to reorganize agriculture research offices, alarming some scientists

Source: Washington Post

Trump administration plans to reorganize agriculture research offices, alarming some scientists

By Caitlin Dewey
August 16 at 7:00 AM

Scientists are raising alarms over a Trump administration plan to overhaul two federal offices tasked with food and agriculture research, calling the move a ploy to slash funding to projects on climate change, nutrition and other top concerns.

The plan, announced by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue last week, would relocate one top research office — the Economic Research Service — into the Office of the Secretary, a political branch of the Agriculture Department. It would also move ERS and a second scientific office, the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, out of Washington, D.C., by the end of 2019.

The reorganization, one of several launched over the past 15 months, would streamline the USDA’s operations, save taxpayer money and help the agency recruit and retain top staff, Perdue said in a statement.

But a number of leading agricultural scientists and economists say the move risks gutting both agencies and stifling important federal research. The Trump administration has already targeted ERS for steep funding cuts, saying in its 2019 budget proposal that some of the agency’s research duplicated work being done at nonprofits and in the private sector.

ERS research spans topics from crop yields and food prices to farm conservation practices, rural employment and nutrition assistance. Occasionally, its findings appear to contradict the administration’s official positions: One February ERS report concluded that trade liberalization benefited U.S. farmers.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/16/trump-administration-plans-reorganize-agriculture-research-offices-alarming-some-scientists/