Pod: “The Farm Report”

The US Department of Agriculture has been a bizarre but consistent target for the Trump Administration — well, for both Trump Administrations, actually. In 2019, I wrote this:

The USDA is broadly under siege from the Trump Administration in other ways. Economists from the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) have run afoul of the administration by reporting data about declines in farm income based on tax plans and tariffs implemented during the current administration. Part of the reaction was to reorganize the ERS to more directly report to the head of the USDA, a political appointee who is known as a “skeptic” of climate change. This reorganization was followed by an internal memo directing ERS and other research branches to include disclaimers in their peer-reviewed publications stating that the findings were “preliminary” and “should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.” This was widely viewed as a way to downplay any unflattering data from the department’s own experts.

In a particularly insidious move, the Trump Administration is currently forcing ERS employees (as well as employees in the National Institute of Food and Agriculture) to move from their offices in Washington, DC, to new offices in Kansas City, MO. The choice is as stark as it is simple: Move, or be fired.

When the plan was announced during an agency meeting, employees turned their backs on the USDA Secretary, Sonny Purdue. Since then, USDA employees have voted to unionize, an effort to increase their negotiating and political power.

Employees have been given until July 15th to decide whether they will move to Kansas City. The USDA has indicated they will be happy to meet with the new union’s representatives on — you guessed it — July 16th. Lawsuits designed to block the move may be imminent.

There is no office building in Kansas City to receive the employees, another sign of the bad faith on the part of Trump’s political appointees. On top of this, the move is projected to cost taxpayers an estimated $83 million to $182 million. Up to 80% of ERS employees are projected to leave the agency because of the relocation.

Now, the second Trump Administration is back to attacking farms and farmers, this time in the guise of “America First.”

In this week’s episode, we explore how a new bizarre attack on the USDA is taking shape, including paranoid publication prohibitions and more.

Cactus Interview Coming Friday

Cactus Communication’s Insights XChange podcast team interviewed us recently about our forthcoming book and more. The episode drops Friday. Here’s a preview: