Digging Deeper...

As you’d expect, there have been bumps in the road as USDA moved its Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City. Throughout 2020 there were rumblings in the media and from government watchdogs that the move wasn’t moving fast enough and staff positions weren’t  being filled very quickly. But a year into the actual relocation and almost two years since its announcement, the pavement is getting smoother.  

By Dennis McLaughlin, McLaughlin Writers, LLC.

ERS and NIFA’s KC Headquarter Operations Hitting Their Strides

Disruption to long-established routines, procedures, locations is sure to create potholes. That’s what happened in 2019 when then-USDA Secretary Sonny Purdue announced the Kansas City metropolitan area would be the new headquarters for ERS and NIFA. Members of the American Federation of Government Employees turned their backs on the secretary as he was speaking. Scientists from the both groups argued the relocation was political. Others called it a ‘war on science.’

Comments from acting White House chief of staff Mike Mulvaney, weren’t exactly promoting collegiality.  The Associated Press reported around the time of the relocation announcement that Mulvaney said the plan to relocate several hundred jobs from Washington to the Kansas City area is "a wonderful way to streamline government." Forecasts from a federal employee organization indicated four out of five ERS employees might decline being reassigned to Kansas City. 

There are always going to be growing pains with a transition of this magnitude. The unforeseen pandemic did not help the situation. 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, has a more optimistic perspective on the move. “It’s amazing how well [ERS and NIFA] have done in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. 

Although ERS and NIFA are not fully staffed, they are making progress. As of February 23, NIFA and ERS had filled a little more than 60% of the positions slated to be in Kansas City, according to a USDA release. NIFA had 202 employees on board and ERS 152.  Recruiting is actively underway, and prospects for populating the positions are more than favorable. 

One USDA employee, who was not affected by the relocation and would not be moving to Kansas City put some of the angst among staffers into perspective. It’s not political or anything like that, he said, adding that he would consider the move if he had to. He was from the Midwest and was well aware of the advantages and quality of life.  But his wife worked for another federal agency, was from the eastern seaboard and was up for an important promotion. And so he wouldn’t likely be leaving the Beltway.

Moving On 

Debate over the moves overall is presently old news. For one thing, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver told internet news service MissouriNet.Com (February 4, 2021) that the Biden Administration will not move the relocated ERS and NIFA headquarters in Kansas City back to Washington. In his remarks to MissouriNet, he said, “I represent that area. I am the senior Democrat in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas,” he said, “And I can tell you that there is no way that those agricultural offices will be moved; that’s just not going to happen.” Rep. Cleaver acknowledged that some top employees would not make the move. But the Kansas City offices are “not going anywhere.”  It would be too expensive, he stressed.

Speaking to the North American Agriculture Journalists group in the capital, April 26, 2021, USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack said ERS and NIFA would not be returning to Washington, D.C. But Agri-Pulse reported he did say to the NAAJ there is “an aggressive effort underway to refill” open positions with staffing in both Kansas City and Washington.

Highlighting Success

An official in USDA’s office that provides day-to-day coordination and operational support for USDA employees and political and presidential appointees told the Agricultural Business Council that the department is moving away from relocation issues. “We’d like to focus on the great work that the agencies [ERS and NIFA} are actually doing.”  And, despite the shock of a relocation and the health and economic disruption brought on by COVID-19, it appears ERS and NIFA are doing all right.

ERS has continued to churn out required reports on issues such as farm income, notes Scott Swinton, a Michigan State economist who is past president of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. But, he adds, “I know that I am seeing fewer new reports. The items that I have found useful for class have all been based on prior ERS research projects — with the important exception of research into COVID-19 effects on ag prices.”

At NIFA, Tom Bewick, a program leader and acting vice president of NIFA Local 3403 for the American Federation of Government Employees, says the organization’s leadership “has done a really good job in terms of prioritizing hiring.”

Bewick points out that all senior supervisory officer positions in grants and financial management have been filled, which has made it possible for NIFA to meet year-end obligations. “We’re on track to obligate all of our funds before [the Federal Fiscal Year end] September 30 — that’s a tremendous accomplishment.” In all, he said approximately $1.293 billion of $1.3 billion has been obligated to grantees. NIFA annually distributes more than $1 billion for research projects at land-grant universities and other organizations. 

But don’t just take it from Bewick. Michael Oltrogge, president of Nebraska Indian Community College, which relies on NIFA funds for its operations, says Native American institutions have been faring well with the move financially.

“The funding has been coming down the pike a bit late,” he points, “but not sufficiently late to make a fuss.” The relocation or at least a portion of the strategic planning in conjunction with the move, Oltrogge adds, has also brought about more of a focus on changing the systems of grant tracking and management. “Those changes should be beneficial as the current systems are a bit archaic from the little use I’ve had with them.

A Busy Spring

In the month of April alone, through the 22nd, NIFA awarded 166 grants valued roughly at over $80 million. NIFA investments in user-inspired projects at local, regional, and national levels bring together researchers, Extension experts, and practitioners to find solutions that can be rapidly adopted by the agricultural community, says NIFA director Carrie Castille. “Work supported by federal investment enables partnerships and close coordination across the entire food and agriculture spectrum on efforts to yield practices that meet pressing needs.”

NIFA invests in agricultural research, education, and extension across the nation to make transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA supports initiatives that ensure the long-term viability of agriculture and applies an integrated approach to ensure that groundbreaking discoveries in agriculture-related sciences and technologies reach the people who can put them into practice. In FY2020, NIFA’s total investment was $1.95 billion.

Ace In The Hole

Despite yeoman performances and achievements by uprooted ERS and NIFA staffers notwithstanding, there is tensions. “You can cut the stress with a knife,” said Bewick. He is referring to added workloads NIFA veteran staffers and new hires have assumed because all positions have yet to be filled – not to mention the anxiety relocated employees may be feeling as they assimilate into new surroundings and routines.

Again, talking to ag industry writers and reporters (April 26, 2021), Sec. Vilsack noted burnout is a problem for ERS and NIFA employees involved in the relocation.  “We intend to get our workforce back up to the place where they can do the work that people expect them to do.”

But relief appears to be on the horizon, if not already on the way.  Recruiting efforts have been ramped up, and the prospects for populating the positions are more than favorable. Six premiere 1862 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, says Dr. Brown, as new ag grads, graduate students and ag professors seeking a career apply for jobs with NIFA and ERS.

That pool of talent is getting deeper, as a report released December 9, 2020 by NIFA showed (Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment, United States, 2020-2025). The implication is that as the nation places greater emphasis on agricultural sciences and business to face the challenges of developing complex global food systems for a growing global population, employment opportunities present themselves.

U.S. college graduates can expect approximately 59,400 job opportunities annually between 2020 and 2025, the report indicates. This reflects a 2.6 percent growth from the previous five years. Employer demand will exceed the supply of available graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher in agriculture-related fields. The further implication is akin to the old movie line, “If you build it they will come.”  Meaning as agriculture emerges as an exciting industrial field, universities will expand their ag education programs and students will eagerly enroll. 

In the meantime, however, ERS and NIFA are seeing an uptick in interest from qualified new ag school grads, graduate students and ag professors seeking new careers in ag business or government.  More importantly, the two agencies are actively interviewing with qualified candidates to fill remaining open positions