potatoes.meUSDA Reorganization Plan Draws Concern From Potato and Specialty Crop Groups
USDA plans to relocate Foreign Agricultural Service and rural development staff out of Washington, D.C., and restructure APHIS and AMS, prompting a joint letter of concern from the National Potato Council and other agricultural groups.
- 3New relocation hubs named for FAS and rural development staff (St. Louis, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City/Beltsville)
- 2025Year of prior Senate committee hearings on USDA reorganization scrutiny
Where the jobs are going
Much of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff would move away from Washington, D.C. under USDA's reorganization plan, Spudman writes. The rural development mission area is also being restructured, with select positions shifting to St. Louis, Missouri, and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, to manage loan and grant processing. FAS operational support positions specifically are being moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and Beltsville, Maryland.
Industry pushes back
The FAS relocation prompted a letter to congressional leaders from a coalition of potato and specialty crop organizations, Spudman notes. Signees included the National Potato Council, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and the Organic Farming Research Foundation. The groups said the personnel moves and shifting oversight roles could disrupt vital regulatory services, delay program management, and weaken market access advocacy.
Reading the letter: The signees' concern centers less on the relocations themselves than on continuity — market access advocacy and regulatory services depend on institutional knowledge that can be harder to preserve across a staff move.
Restructuring inside APHIS and AMS
The plan also changes how the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) operate. Kelly Moore has been named permanent APHIS administrator. APHIS is altering its Plant Protection and Quarantine program, described as an effort to strengthen national plant health leadership and unify policy and operational functions. AMS, meanwhile, is transferring commodity-specific operations into broader service programs, with oversight of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) moving directly into the Specialty Crops Program.
A structural shift: Moving PACA oversight directly into the Specialty Crops Program is a small detail with outsized meaning for specialty crop growers like potato producers, since it ties dispute-resolution authority more closely to their own commodity category rather than a general AMS function.
What USDA says stays the same
USDA has stated that these organizational adjustments will not affect overseas diplomatic posts and will not result in reductions in force, according to Spudman's reporting.
Not the first round of scrutiny
Reorganization plans announced last year already drew scrutiny, leading to Senate committee hearings in July 2025, Spudman found. The current relocation and restructuring plan lands in that same ongoing debate over how USDA's regulatory and trade-support functions should be organized and staffed.
Potato and specialty crop growers rely on FAS market access advocacy and consistent AMS/APHIS regulatory oversight; staff relocations and program restructuring could affect how quickly trade, inspection, and grant programs function.
What is moving under USDA's reorganization plan?
Much of the Foreign Agricultural Service staff is relocating from Washington, D.C., with operational support positions moving to Kansas City, Missouri, and Beltsville, Maryland. Rural development positions are shifting to St. Louis, Missouri, and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
Who raised concerns about the plan?
A coalition of potato and specialty crop organizations, including the National Potato Council, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and the Organic Farming Research Foundation, sent a letter to congressional leaders.
What changes are happening at APHIS and AMS?
Kelly Moore was named permanent APHIS administrator, APHIS is restructuring its Plant Protection and Quarantine program, and AMS is shifting PACA oversight directly to its Specialty Crops Program.
Has USDA addressed the concerns?
USDA has said the adjustments will not affect overseas diplomatic posts and will not result in reductions in force, according to Spudman.
Kelly Moore, APHIS
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