Tell Your Legislator to Say NO to USDA Restructuring Plan! ❌

One of the following will be sent depending on recipient:
Default Letter Thank You

I am writing to you today because I am concerned by the recently announced USDA-REE restructuring. I do not believe this restructuring will help farmers or researchers at all. 
When similar restructuring happened in 2019, USDA-REE lost a significant number of experienced staff. Also, vital economic reporting was reduced and disbursements of funding to university researchers were delayed. 
I am also concerned with the legality of both this restructuring and the closure of our nation's largest agriculture research station in Beltsville, Maryland. 
In this current farm economy, now is not the right time for drastic restructuring and closures of agriculture research stations. Rather than making these changes, we should support their services and functions more. 
I implore you to use whatever Congressional authority or influence you have to try and stop this restructuring from happening. 
Your voice in helping to stop this would be greatly appreciated.

I am writing to thank you for signing on to the May 14th letter, which your office sent to the USDA, asking for greater oversight of the USDA’s plan to reorganize the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) agencies. These reorganization efforts have the potential to cause major disruptions to research, data reporting, the distribution of funding, and long-term staffing institutional knowledge. 
Organic agriculture research funding primarily comes from programs under the REE agency, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). As a result, the timely distribution of funds through these NIFA programs is critical to sustaining the current and next generation of organic researchers. Furthermore, organic data reporting is often hard to come by, so any disruptions to the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) could make planting and marketing decisions for organic farmers more difficult. Lastly, the loss of institutional knowledge across USDA-REE would be detrimental to supporting organic agriculture, given the holistic ethos of organic production.
Please continue to lend your voice in support of agricultural research. I also ask you to please keep in mind the added emphasis organic agriculture places on public programs for both research and marketing in your office’s legislative and communication actions.

Dear [Your Elected Official],

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your City & State]

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