By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday it will relocate many research and food safety staff from the Washington region as part of its broader reorganization effort.
The agency is in the process of moving most of its Washington-area staff - about 2,600 people - to five regional hubs in an effort to bring the workforce closer to farmers. Most USDA employees already live outside Washington.
The USDA will move some Washington-based staff of its
Economic Research Service and National Institute for Food and Agriculture to their Kansas City offices, it said in a press release. The two agencies were relocated from Washington to Kansas City under the first administration of President Donald Trump.
Some employees of the National Agricultural Statistics Service will also move, the release said.
"This move puts our research institutions outside of the beltway and closer to the land grant universities with talent pipelines who will lead the research and solve the problems facing the future of American agriculture," said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a statement.
The agency will also begin decommissioning its flagship research site in Beltsville, Maryland, the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, and relocating research programs, according to the release.
BARC staff have complained about unsafe working conditions, though employees also joined lawmakers and farm groups in criticizing USDA's plan to close the center, arguing the relocation process would interrupt research.
The USDA will also move about 200 employees of its Food Safety and Inspection Service to a new National Food Safety Center in Urbandale, Iowa, the agency said.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
