On July 24, 2025, Secretary Rollins issued a memo outlining plans to reorganize staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a move drafted without consulting farmers or stakeholders. Since January 2025, the department has already lost more than 20,000 employees, and the reorganization is expected to result in thousands more departures. This has raised alarm over the future of USDA’s research agencies, which are central to agricultural innovation and policy support.
The USDA’s core research bodies—the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS), Economic Research Service (ERS), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)—have been disproportionately affected by staffing losses. Collectively, these agencies have lost about 23% of their workforce in 2025 alone, including nearly 2,000 employees through voluntary resignation programs and other separations. NASS, which provides critical data through surveys and the Census of Agriculture, has lost nearly a third of its staff. ARS, the nation’s in-house scientific research agency, has shed over 1,500 employees, halting numerous research projects and undermining its ability to deliver solutions for U.S. farmers. Similarly, NIFA programs have been delayed, with some grant cycles skipped entirely.
The proposed reorganization threatens to further weaken these agencies. Plans include closing the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland, one of the most important agricultural research sites in the U.S., home to over a century of field studies and innovations. Experts warn that relocating or shutting down such facilities will result in irreplaceable scientific losses. Additionally, USDA intends to eliminate ARS Area Offices and consolidate NASS regional offices into five hubs, reducing regional representation and weakening relationships with farmers. These changes risk slowing research, undermining data collection, and limiting stakeholder engagement across the country.
The USDA has opened a limited public comment period, but organizations like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition have criticized the process for lacking transparency, since it bypasses the formal Federal Register route. Concerns are mounting that the reorganization will not deliver efficiencies but instead erode local accountability, delay research outputs, and harm trust among farmers and stakeholders.
These developments follow earlier disruptions in 2019, when ERS and NIFA were relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, causing significant staff departures and reduced productivity. Reports and grant programs were delayed or canceled, negatively impacting universities, research institutions, and farmers. While both agencies have struggled to recover, the current wave of losses—27% at ERS and nearly 20% at NIFA—signals further setbacks to agricultural research and innovation.
Ultimately, USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics division, tasked with advancing agricultural science and supporting rural communities, faces a critical moment. With severe staffing losses and looming reorganization, its capacity to generate reliable research, sustain innovation, and support American farmers is in jeopardy.
