Critics of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s plans to relocate the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture out of Washington D.C. are requesting a special provision in the upcoming spending bill to put that on hold. A coalition of 60 groups including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Consumer Federation of America sent a letter to Congress urging that. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke says that may just be a delaying tactic to stop what was a political move.
He says his group opposes moving those offices.
Sombke says he’ll keep monitoring the situation but says it doesn’t make sense to move offices away from other agencies they may have to do business with.
Nearly 140 cities are interested in hosting ERS and NIFA. The USDA plans to pick a new location or locations for the agencies by January of 2019.
