MD Delegation Urges USDA to Keep Beltsville Ag Center Open
Congressman Steny H. Hoyer and other members of the Maryland delegation warned US Department of Agriculture leadership that closing the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, or BARC, in Prince George’s County, as proposed in its reorganization plan announced this summer, would irreparably undermine US agricultural innovation and harm the countless farmers who depend on BARC’s research.
In a letter submitted for the USDA’s official comment period on its reorganization plan, the lawmakers urge the agency to keep BARC open, pointing out that the required congressional approval has not been granted for the agency to carry out such a large-scale restructuring effort.
They also outline how a move or relocation of BARC will waste taxpayer dollars while jeopardizing the success of American farmers in the immediate and long term – upending important research that can’t be replicated elsewhere.
Others signing the letter include US Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and US Reps. Glenn Ivey, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, Sarah Elfreth, April McClain Delaney, and Johnny Olszewski.
“We strongly oppose the USDA’s proposed reorganization plan which includes the closure of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland,” the lawmakers began. “For over 100 years, BARC has been an engine of agricultural research and innovation and the site of numerous research breakthroughs. BARC’s unique capacity has made it the nation’s premier agricultural research facility, and its closure would be deeply harmful to American farmers, as well as a waste of taxpayer dollars. We also have significant concerns about the lack of transparency and the legality of USDA’s proposed plan. We urge you to keep BARC open and to provide a detailed accounting of the full impact of the proposed reorganization plan.”
The lawmakers go on to lay out a thorough, detailed case for BARC and its employees to remain operational in the current location, stressing the following points:
- The plan to close BARC requires Congressional approval; moving forward without it would be illegal.
- The plan to close BARC would waste federal resources.
- BARC is a world leader in agricultural research; – its closure will irreparably harm the United States’ leadership in agricultural production and research.
- BARC helps to train the next generation of agricultural researchers, on whom the future of American agricultural innovation depends.
- BARC’s geographic location provides unique benefits to American agricultural research that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
- BARC provides regionally tailored research to the 83,000 farms throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the loss of which jeopardizes $10 billion in agricultural productivity.
- Key BARC research projects cannot be relocated, and decades of work may be lost completely if BARC closes.
- Closing BARC and relocating key research activities will not result in lower cost of living for USDA employees.
- No USDA reorganization plan should move forward without a thorough benefit-cost analysis that includes a full accounting of the potential impacts of closing BARC.
A copy of the letter is available here.
Congressman Hoyer is chair of the Regional Leadership Council.
For more information about Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, visit his Leader member page.
