More than 1,100 scientists and economists penned a letter opposing the Trump administration proposal to realign and relocate programs within the Department of Agriculture. The group is opposed to the USDA plan to move the Economic Research Service under the Office of the Chief Economist and to relocate most of the positions in ERS and the National Institute of 
Food and Agriculture out of the Washington metropolitan area, according to the Hagstrom Report.
In the letter, the coalition urged Congress to delay the reorganization until all stakeholders, including USDA employees, can provide proper input. The letter says the group is worried that moving the Economic Research Service from the Research, Education and Economics mission area will undermine the agency’s work to objectively collect and analyze data on issues ranging from agriculture and conservation to food and rural development and moving the agencies out of Washington would reduce their access to data from other agencies.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.