Relocating NIFA and ERS to KC Metro

It’s been almost two years since USDA announced it was relocating two of its agencies to the Kansas City Metro Region.  About a year ago USDA actually initiated the change of addresses for both the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and began moving staff to the Kansas City area. Lately, however, there have been rumblings in the media and from government watchdogs that the move isn’t moving fast enough and staff positions aren’t being filled very quickly. 

But there are always going to be growing pains with a transition of this magnitude. People in the know, like Scott Brown, Ph.D., Associate Extension Professor at the University of Missouri’s Division of Applied Social Sciences and College of Agricultural, Food and Natural Resources, have a different, more optimistic perspective on these developments. Dr. Brown said that although ERS and NIFA are not fully staffed they are making progress. “It’s amazing how well they have done in the middle of a pandemic.” 

For example, as of February 2021, USDA released a report indicating NIFA had 221 employees on board and 122 vacancies. Recruiting is actively underway, and prospects for populating the positions are more than favorable. Consider this: Six premiere  land grant institutions – Kansas State, University of Missouri, Oklahoma State, University of Nebraska, Iowa State, and University of Arkansas – are within 300 miles of the Kansas City metropolitan area. That represents a gusher of ag talent, adds Dr. Brown, as new ag grads, graduate students and ag professors seeking a career apply for jobs with NIFA and ERS. 

In April, the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City will Dig Deeper into all the ramifications of the USDA’s initiative to relocate ERS and NIFA to the region.