ERIN ANDERSON
Brownfield Ag Network
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins has announced plans to reorganize the U.S. Department of Agriculture to better serve America’s farmers and ranchers.
The department will move into five hub locations in Raleigh, North Carolina, Kansas City, Missouri, Indianapolis, Indiana, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Rollins says the reorganization is designed to ensure the size of its workforce aligns with financial resources, will bring the department closer to farmers, eliminate management layers and bureaucracy, and consolidate support functions. But, she says all critical functions of the department will continue uninterrupted.
The USDA says this is the first month of a multi-step process. Local USDA offices will be notified in the coming months on more information about the regional hubs and next steps.
“The selection of Indianapolis as one of five new USDA regional hub locations is exciting news for Hoosiers. It’s great to see these USDA services move outside of Washington and into places like Indiana that feed our nation,” said Senator Young of Indiana.
“There are no stronger champions for American farmers and ranchers than Secretary Rollins and President Trump,” said Senator Marshall of Kansas. “Today’s announcements build on President Trump’s efforts in his first Administration to move those who work closest with our farmers and ranchers to our nation’s heartland. This is putting Farmer’s First.”
“A reorganization of this scale will impact USDA’s ability to provide critical services to Americans and undermine the Agency’s trusted expertise that farmers and families count on,” U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee says. “I have serious doubts that the Administration adequately considered the impact of this move on research and on services for famers and rural Americans, particularly after the loss of over 15,000 employees in the past six months. The USDA must come before Congress to explain why it wants to adopt this plan, just as farmers have been hit with obscenely high tariffs, families have been walloped by SNAP cuts, and research grants have been frozen and reduced. Agriculture has always been America’s pride and joy. This half-baked proposal – submitted with no consultation with leading Agricultural Senators – will set us back.” We must have an immediate hearing before more damage is done.”
“Farm communities are facing urgent challenges,” Rob Larew, National Farmers Union president says. “While NFU supports efforts to enhance USDA efficiency and service delivery, we are concerned that large-scale restructuring or relocation of agency offices could result in significant staff turnover, loss of institutional knowledge and service disruptions, at a time when farmers, ranchers and their communities critically depend on these services to stay afloat. NFU will closely monitor these developments to ensure that any major changes are strategic and that the needs of family farmers and ranchers remain the top priority.”
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