Economic Research Service
USDA tries to plug the holes as ERS staff flows away
The USDA is already recruiting employees to replace Economic Research Service staff workers who will not relocate to Kansas City this summer, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday.
White House targets ag provisions in veto threat of mammoth funding bill
The U.S. House opened debate on a mammoth federal spending bill, including money for the USDA, on Tuesday under the threat of a presidential veto of the $322 billion bill. The White House said it opposed half a dozen USDA provisions in the bill, including language that would preclude relocating two research agencies to Kansas City and implementing a new inspection system for hog-slaughter plants.
‘Major underestimate’ of cost of relocating USDA agencies, says group
The USDA failed to follow federal guidelines when it determined it would save money by moving two research agencies to Kansas City, said a review by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association on Wednesday.
USDA announces Kansas City region as new home of NIFA and ERS
In a highly anticipated announcement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Thursday that the Kansas City region would be the new home of the agency’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Economic Research Service.
Perdue chooses new homes for two USDA research agencies
Ten months after he announced the initiative, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will meet with USDA employees privately Thursday and then announce to the public the new homes for two research agencies now sited in Washington.
House panel to vote on blocking relocation of two USDA agencies
If a House Appropriations subcommittee has its way, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue would be barred from moving two USDA research agencies out of Washington.
Relocation at hand, USDA research agency staff votes to unionize
Employees of the Economic Research Service voted in a landslide to unionize on Thursday in balloting that was an unofficial referendum on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan to move the agency out of Washington in the coming months. A vote on unionization is set for June at the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, also slated for relocation.
Secret sites are on USDA’s short list for new homes of relocated agencies
The finalists in Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's plan to move two research agencies out of Washington include "multiple" undisclosed sites in Indiana, a symbol of complaints of hidden motives and scanty material to support the move. Separately, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, a perennial USDA research partner, said it feared relocation would damage the effectiveness of the grant-making National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
Grocery price inflation is becoming less volatile
The United States is headed for the fifth year in a row of lower-than-average increases in grocery prices, part of a longer trend of smaller and less volatile changes in food inflation, said two USDA economists.
Perdue could pick new home for ERS and NIFA in May
The USDA is working briskly to move two scientific agencies out of Washington, an aide to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told lawmakers on Wednesday, despite skepticism on Capitol Hill about whether the relocations are justified. “We anticipate we will have a site recommendation to the secretary in early May,” she said.
USDA moving ahead on agency relocations
A British consulting company will whittle down the list of potential relocation sites for two USDA research agencies in coming weeks with an eye to making a final recommendation after April, the USDA said on Wednesday.
Headed for the Heartland? Midwest, Plains dominate USDA semifinal list
A day after asking for $25 million in moving money, the USDA said on Tuesday that at least 67 sites, predominantly in the Midwest and Plains, are being considered for the new homes of two Washington-based research agencies. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue insists he has the power to move the agencies despite resistance from lawmakers.
On USDA’s checklist for moving agencies out of D.C.: Travel time
The Agriculture Department is sharpening its criteria for choosing new homes for two science agencies that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has decided to relocate outside of Washington by the end of this year.
Keep USDA science agencies in D.C., say lawmakers
A powerhouse group of U.S. representatives, including incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, filed a bill on Thursday to block the relocation and reorganization of USDA research agencies.
From inside the Beltway to the Central Valley, locales woo USDA agencies
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Tuesday that “interest from across the country has been overwhelming” at the chance to house two USDA research agencies that he has decided to move out of Washington.
NFU opposes USDA plan to relocate research agencies
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue may jeopardize the objectivity of two USDA agencies by taking control of the Economic Research Service and moving it and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) out of Washington, said the National Farmers Union on Tuesday. The second-largest U.S. farm group announced its opposition to the reorganization in a letter to Perdue, saying the USDA has failed to justify the reorganization announced a month ago.
Analyst: USDA overstated employee turnover to justify agency relocation
When Sonny Perdue announced he would move the Economic Research Service out of Washington, he said it would make it easier to recruit and retain qualified staff. But after a review of USDA data, a professional statistics group says the problem of staff turnover doesn't exist.
Show us the proof, Democrats ask Perdue
Four Democratic representatives, all members of the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, have called on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to justify his plan to move two USDA agencies out of Washington.