Following the USDA’s Reorganization (Regularly Updated)

Background: USDA Reorganization Plans Announced in July 2025

In July 2025, Secretary Rollins announced the reorganization of the USDA. With an intention to “better align” the agency’s core operations with its founding mission, the announcement shared that the USDA would continue use of its Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) while restructuring agencies in its mission areas (learn more about these here) and relocating much of its Washington, D.C. staff to hub locations in North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, Colorado, and Utah. Of the approximately 4,600 employees in D.C.’s National Capital Region (NCR), more than half would be relocated. 

These plans were open to public comment, and a summary of feedback was released in December 2025. Of the tens of thousands of emails sent to reorganization@usda.gov, the overwhelming majority (82 percent) expressed negative sentiment. Key themes emerged regarding concerns over the loss of oversight and expertise, the reduction in personnel and resources, and the closures and funding cuts for agricultural research and innovation, and many recommended that the USDA have offices in every county.

Since January 2025, more than 24,600 USDA employees (local and DC-based) have left the department. The highest percentage of departures happened in the District of Columbia and Maryland, where federal USDA offices are located. In total, roughly 23 percent (2,903 employees) have left the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). As of January 2026, there were 37 state-level USDA agencies that no longer had a single employee.

Update: April 2026

Facility Closure and Restructuring of Research, Education, and Economics Mission Area

On April 23, 2026, the USDA announced a reorganization and restructuring of its Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area. REE agencies will relocate NCR positions to new locations across the country. Staff from the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) will be relocated to Kansas City, including those who were moved to Kansas City in 2019 but have “since sprawled across the country.” 

An internal study conducted by a union representing ERS and NIFA employees found that 76 percent of its members indicated they do not plan to relocate. 

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will also be relocating some of its NCR staff, while the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will start decommissioning the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), claiming that its 400 buildings are “outdated and underutilized.” The 2026 Agricultural Appropriations Act included $6 million for infrastructure improvements at BARC, which was founded in 1910 and has long produced agricultural science breakthroughs. Shortly after the relocation plans were announced, BARC employees received emails about the termination and reduction of funding for more than a dozen research projects.

According to National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) Policy Specialist Nick Rossi, the relocation of ERS, NIFA, and NASS staff “will likely bring about service disruptions and a greater loss of institutional knowledge,” while the closure of the BARC could disrupt “decades of invaluable agricultural research.”

Relocation of Key Food Safety Operations

April 23 is also when the USDA announced a reorganization of its Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the agency responsible for ensuring the safety of meat, poultry, and egg products and issuing recalls. An existing USDA space in Urbandale, Iowa, will house a new National Food Safety Center. The FSIS will also establish a Science Center at an existing Eastern Field Services Laboratory in Athens, Georgia. 

Under the reorganization plans, FSIS will relocate roughly 67 percent of its D.C. staff to these locations. Approximately 200 employees will be relocated from D.C. and other locations to Iowa, making it the USDA’s largest office. The agency’s reorganization will not impact its frontline inspection workforce. 

Reorganization and Relocation of SNAP Services

A week later, on April 30, plans were announced to reorganize and relocate the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services mission area, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will be renamed as the Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA), and all leadership and staff will be moved from D.C. to hub locations:

• SNAP staff to Indianapolis, Indiana
• Child Nutrition Programs staff to Dallas, Texas
• Supplemental Nutrition and Safety Programs staff to Kansas City, Missouri
• Research programs staff to Raleigh, North Carolina

Retailer operations and compliance will be spread across four offices, while the FNA Administrator will remain in D.C.

According to the Food Research & Action Center, “[t]he relocation from Washington, D.C., will result in a significant brain drain and disrupt program execution.” They noted that a 2019 move of research agencies from NCR to Kansas City “led to disruptions in work, reduced productivity, and a mass departure of staff,” and worry that this move could lead to “those same circumstances on a much grander scale.”

Update: March 2026

In late March, the USDA announced that it would be moving its Forest Service headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah, while beginning a “sweeping restructuring of the agency.” This would entail a transition to “a state-based organizational model,” where 15 state directors would be located around the country to oversee the agency’s operations. Correspondingly, many Forest Service functions will also shift to 15 state offices in New Mexico, Georgia, Colorado, Wisconsin, Montana, and California—while all nine regional offices will close. 

Research leadership will be consolidated, and at least 57 of its 77 research stations will be shuttered and replaced by a single location in Colorado. Additional phases and the elimination of regional and station offices will continue to be implemented over the coming year. According to PEER Western Lands and Rocky Mountain Advocate Chandra Rosenthal, “[n]ot all forests are the same; but the Forest Service is weakening its ability to understand forest diversity by eliminating almost 60 specialized research stations looking at local forest conditions.”

Update: February 2026

USDA Mission Areas

All working under the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, the agency’s Under Secretaries oversee the department’s eight specific mission areas. Here are the mission areas and the specific USDA agencies that operate within each of them:

• Farm Production and Conservation: Farm Service Agency (FSA), the Risk Management Agency (RMS), and the Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS)
• Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services: Food and Nutrition Service
• Food Safety: Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
• Marketing and Regulatory Programs: Agricultural Marketing Service (which houses the National Organic Program) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
• Natural Resources and Environment: Forest Service
• Research, Education, and Economics (REE): Agricultural Research Service, Economic Research Service (ERS), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Office of the Chief Scientist
• Rural Development: Rural Business Service, Rural Utilities Service, Rural Housing Service
• Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs: Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Codex Office