USDA Plan to Move Jobs Out of D.C. And Closer to Farmers Draws Mixed Reviews

Sep 15, 2025

By Frank Morris

In July, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins dropped a plan in the form of a 5-page memo to shake up the USDA.

More than half the agency’s Washington, D.C., jobs – some 2,000 positions – were to be divided among five new hubs strung out across the middle of the country. Jobs would be sent to Raleigh, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Fort Collins, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. The memo also called for shuttering a major research center in Maryland.

The general idea of moving USDA jobs out of D.C. wasn’t new, but Rollins’ proposal took legislators and lobbyists representing farmers, ranchers, and the rest of the vast agriculture industry by surprise.

Proposed new U.S. Department of Agriculture hubs

The USDA wants to relocate employees from Washington D.C. to five cities across the U.S.

crop

Amy Klobuchar, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and other lawmakers were furious that a plan to reorganize the sprawling Department of Agriculture was hatched in secret with little to no input from anyone involved in agriculture.

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Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?