Regional officials and agricultural leaders are pushing back against the Trump administration’s sweeping plan to relocate thousands of USDA employees out of Washington, warning the move will shutter the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and strip farmers of vital scientific support.

The USDA announced last week it will transfer more than half of its Washington-area workforce — about 2,600 employees — to five regional hubs in Raleigh, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Fort Collins and Salt Lake City, citing cost savings, efficiency, and a need to bring the agency “closer to its customers.” 

The plan calls for vacating the research center, one of the nation’s premier agricultural research facilities, along with other buildings in the Washington region.

Maryland lawmakers swiftly condemned the decision, citing the research center’s century-long history of supporting farmers and protecting public health nationwide.

“Shuttering (the research center) and uprooting its workforce will undercut its critical mission, endanger public safety, and unnecessarily waste taxpayer dollars,” said U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, joined by U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin, Steny Hoyer, Glenn Ivey, Kweisi Mfume, Sarah Elfreth, Johnny Olszewski and April McClain Delaney, all Democrats, in a statement. “Congress and the courts must act swiftly to block this illegal and harmful reorganization and ensure (the center) remains intact. The law demands it, and our farmers depend on it.”

Gov. Wes Moore and Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks condemned the reorganization. The Trump administration’s reorganization of the department raises the need for a comprehensive assessment on the long-term impacts on Maryland’s economy, rural communities and the broader food system, Atticks said.

“The potential loss of USDA facilities in Maryland casts a shadow over the state’s agricultural landscape,” he said in a statement. “While Maryland farmers are renowned for their resilience and adaptability, the economic ripple effects of such a move could extend far beyond the immediate agricultural sector. … Ensuring continued support and resources for Maryland agriculture will be paramount in navigating this challenging transition.”

Moore called the Beltsville facility the “crown jewel” of U.S. agricultural research.

“For over a century, researchers in Maryland have transformed the agriculture industry by developing new crop varieties, discovering vaccines for livestock, and innovating new strategies to protect crops and animals from pests and diseases,” he said “Any threat to the continuation of this research and these programs, coupled with the ongoing exodus of experienced scientists and public servants, is a direct assault on our farmers and imperils the future of American agriculture.”

Local farm advocates echoed the alarm.

“We draw on the research and expertise of scientists that work out of the Beltsville facility for regionally appropriate data on a wide variety of production systems,” said Lisa Garfield, research and Million Acre Challenge director at Future Harvest in Cockeysville, Md. “There are also long-term research plots comparing management systems and impact on soil and crop health that will be lost and cannot be quickly replicated elsewhere. In general, farmers will suffer the loss of important research that contributes to their profitability and viability as a result of this.”

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services declined to comment.

In defending the move, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the reorganization as a necessary correction to what she described as years of bloated spending and costly maintenance in underused federal buildings.

“President Trump was elected to make real change in Washington, and we are doing just that by moving our key services outside the beltway and into great American cities across the country,” Rollins said. “We will do so through a transparent and common-sense process that preserves USDA’s critical health and public safety services the American public relies on.”

According to the USDA, the plan rests on four pillars: Aligning workforce size with resources and priorities, eliminating layers of bureaucracy; consolidating redundant functions; and moving staff to some lower-cost regions.

The department said all critical services — including food inspection and wildfire management — will continue uninterrupted, with about 2,000 employees remaining in the D.C. area after the reorganization.

Chad Hart, a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University, said the agricultural community is concerned about a “bumpy transition” reminiscent of similar action during Trump’s first term, when relocated Agriculture offices needed months to get up and running again.

Although it’s important to be closer to farmers and ranchers, he said, relocating those Agriculture employees also risks losing connection to Congress.

“You want that balance,” Hart said, to ensure effective farm policy.