NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD NEWS) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is preparing to travel to Missouri, where she will visit a farm to talk about rising input costs. Rollins will be joined by USDA Under Secretary Richard Fordyce and Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe.
While there, she will tour the farm and then participate in a roundtable with farmers. They are expected to discuss fertilizer and the recent geopolitical impacts on the farm economy.
Rollins told us earlier this week, during an exclusive interview, that an announcement is coming, likely this week, about what USDA is doing to keep fertilizer prices in check.
That is not the only major announcement from the USDA this week; it also announced plans to restructure major research facilities across the country.
The Beltsville Ag Research Center (BARC), once considered the most prestigious in the world, will soon be mothballed. The USDA announced formal plans yesterday, but in a video released late last year, Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden warned that the facility has been nonfunctional for some time.
“Many of the problems at BARC have accumulated over decades due to inadequate funding from Congress,” Vaden said. “The deferred maintenance mentioned by the Office of Special Counsel has ballooned to over $300 million, to the point where 247 of its buildings, in other words, more than 60%, are inactive or excess. That’s government speak for waiting to be torn down.”
USDA will begin relocating workers to locations across the country to bring research closer to the people it serves. Deputy Secretary Vaden says the changes will strengthen coordination and improve USDA’s ability to serve farmers.
Rollins also announced this week the creation of a new National Food Safety Center, located in Urbandale, Iowa. This will serve as the primary hub for food safety and inspection operations. Rollins says this move will expand their scientific capabilities and put them in the best position to support American agriculture. USDA will repurpose existing office space in Iowa and employ around 200 people.
They’re also adding a science center in Athens, Georgia, to expand lab-based research.
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