With a USDA decision expected soon, Missouri and Kansas lawmakers said that Kansas City “is ideally located” to be the new home of two research agencies that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue wants to move out of Washington before the end of this year. The Kansas City area is one of three finalists announced early this month and has been rumored as the frontrunner.
The letter sent to Perdue by the 11 lawmakers, including the senators from each state, was one of the few overt signs of campaigning to house the Economic Research Service and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture as the USDA makes it final choice. Aides have said that a recommendation on the winning site could be given to Perdue this month. The “research triangle” of North Carolina and undisclosed sites in Indiana are the other finalists.
An array of scientific groups, former USDA officials, and many affected employees oppose the relocation, which Perdue announced last August, as unnecessary and disruptive. The National Farmers Union, the second-largest U.S. farm group, says Congress should “act quickly and decisively to prevent his proposal from moving forward.” Perdue says USDA would save money on salaries and rent with the move as well as make it easier to recruit staff workers and put researchers closer to “stakeholders.”
“Kansas City is ideally located for ERS and NIFA employees to simultaneously be closer to agricultural stakeholders and rural communities they serve,” said the congressional letter. Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee and Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt is a member of Republican leadership in the Senate.