AAEA Response to USDA ERS/NIFA Relocation Short List

Dear AAEA members,

The Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) supports maintaining and strengthening economic statistics, research, education, and extension programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A high priority is to sustain the excellence of research at the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the Research, Education, and Economics (REE) Mission Area. We are concerned with the administration’s efforts to reduce the support for agricultural research.

Today’s announcement by Secretary Perdue rekindles concerns that we have previously expressed about the administration’s plan to reduce support for economic research and to relocate ERS and NIFA, most recently in a letter from the AAEA Board last month. We urge the administration to conduct a rigorous benefit-cost analysis of its relocation/reorganization plans for ERS. We are encouraged that the U.S. Congress shares our concern in report language accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019 that was passed earlier this year.

For additional information on AAEA Government Relations as well as this particular issue, please visit: https://www.aaea.org/membership/government-relations-update.

For individuals who would like to engage the House of Representatives on this issue, please visit this page.

Sincerely,

The Executive Committee

David Zilberman AAEA President

Scott Swinton Past President

Keith Coble President-Elect