ACTION ALERT: Sign On to Oppose the USDA's Planned Reorganization

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is urging fellow farmers and farm advocates to speak up in opposition to planned changes at the United State Department of Agriculture. PLEASE SIGN ON TODAY OR TOMORROW.

EDIT: As of Monday morning, the deadline to comment has been extended to August 31. Please share this blog and letter with fellow farmers and farm advocates, inviting them to sign on. We are at 135 signatures and counting...

The USDA is planning a reorganization that, among other changes, would move many of its national operations out of Washington DC to a few offices in cities haphazardly placed throughout the country. The plan would also shrink or eliminate some regional offices of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Agricultural Research Service, and other agencies. Much of the plan, like the relocation of the Economic Research Service (ERS) from DC to Kansas City in 2019, is intended to further cut the staff of USDA. Nationwide, USDA has lost nearly 20,000 employees under the current administration, or about 20%. Wisconsin has lost around 22% of our USDA staff, many of whom lived and worked in rural, agricultural areas - working directly with farmers and landowners to help them make decisions about land management and conservation.

We oppose this reorganization because it would be immensely harmful to our organization and the farmers we serve by: 

• Increasing wait times for farmers to get service

• Disrupting services for critical nutrition programs

• Abandoning long-term agricultural data collection and research

• Increasing the risk of food-borne illness and significant crop loss 

• Reducing communication, information, and access for farmers

• Adding to the already devastating loss of staff across Wisconsin

Please sign on to this letter on behalf of your organization, your farm, or yourself by August 31th as we urge USDA to stop these destructive plans.

Under normal circumstances, public comments submitted to USDA would be publicly available in the Federal Register. The USDA has decided to NOT make these comments public, so there won't to be a record of how much the public opposes this move. Because of this, we are hoping to publicly publish this letter shortly after it is sent to USDA. We must provide our own transparency when the USDA refuses to do so.

Read the letter below, then click to go to  the form to sign-on at this link.

Here is the letter:

We are writing together, both farmers and organizations that work with farmers in Wisconsin, in opposition to the USDA’s proposed reorganization. This plan was developed without the input of Congress or relevant stakeholders – and, combined with recent staffing cuts and funding freezes at USDA, will have a long-lasting, negative impact on the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission nationwide, resulting in massive consequences for farmers and families.  

We rely on the United States Department of Agriculture for resources, technical assistance, and critical research and safety information in the interest of farmers and communities in Wisconsin.  Dedicated USDA staff, both at the agency’s Washington DC headquarters and at local offices, are essential to fulfilling the agency’s functions for the public. 

This proposed reorganization would be immensely harmful to our organization and the farmers we serve by: 

• Increasing the wait times for information and application assistance for farmers and ranchers seeking to access conservation programs, loans, and other USDA programs. We have been experiencing bottlenecks with our local agency for years, further reducing or disrupting staff will only exacerbate this issue and make essential agriculture programs less impactful.  

• Disrupting services for critical nutrition programs. Closing regional offices will shut off the first line of support for state and tribal agencies administering programs like SNAP and WIC in our communities. 

• Abandoning long-term agricultural data collection and research. USDA conducts critical data collection on crops, markets, and trends and supports research at USDA and institutions nationwide, including the stewarding of publicly held seeds – losing this capacity will threaten our national food security and resilience for the future.  

• Increasing the risk of food-borne illness and significant crop loss from disease and pest outbreaks. If USDA is less able to track and respond to these threats, the health and livelihood of our farmers, ranchers, and communities are on the line.  

• Reducing communication, information, and access. Staff cuts have already massively reduced the agency’s ability to respond to basic questions about grants and programs, to ensure timely disbursement of funds, and to provide technical assistance and agricultural data. We count on USDA for these core services and the sector cannot function smoothly without them. 

• Adding to the already devastating loss of staff across Wisconsin. Wisconsin has already lost 22% of its USDA employees since January (391 of a previous 1,799). This loss of staff was implemented without a plan for how USDA would continue providing its vital services to both rural and urban areas throughout the state.

  
  

We strongly urge USDA to reconsider this decision to relocate staff and consolidate agency functions. Our farmers and communities need a fully staffed, responsive, and effective USDA to deliver on its mission and this plan will only harm that endeavor. 

At a minimum, any changes to USDA’s structure intended to strengthen its mission should only proceed after the agency produces a thorough and transparent benefit-cost analysis of options for improving both USDA staff retention and services; a report explaining how such changes would not negatively impact USDA’s mission and services; and a formal public input process, including stakeholder listening sessions and transparent comment opportunity via the Federal Register. 

If you agree, and are ready to sign on to the letter, then click to go to  the form to sign-on at this link.