WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture – released the following statement after the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Kansas City made the list of finalists to be the next home of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Economic Research Service (ERS):

“After months of advocating to Secretary Perdue that these agencies ought to be in the Kansas City area, I’m pleased to see USDA listed Kansas City as a finalist to be the headquarters of these critical agencies. Kansas City is home to a highly-skilled workforce as a result of the state’s premier universities, research institutions, agricultural companies, and industry producer groups, and I am thrilled that it’s a finalist for USDA’s ERS and NIFA. The animal health corridor, stretching from Manhattan, Kansas to Columbia, Missouri, is the largest concentration of animal health companies in the world; our state is also the future home of the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF), the nation’s foremost animal disease research facility.

“The concentration of animal health companies and location of NBAF will not only complement the research capabilities of NIFA and ERS, but have also fostered a talented workforce that will help meet the personnel needs of USDA. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue advocating to Secretary Purdue and USDA that Kansas City be chosen as ERS and NIFA’s new home.”

Items to note:

• On September 20, 2018, Sen. Moran urged Secretary Perdue to consider Kansas City as the new home for NIFA and ERS.
• On October 22, 2018, Sen. Moran penned an op-ed to the Topeka Capital-Journal making the case for Kansas to be the next home of NIFA and ERS.
• On April 11, 2019, during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Sen. Moran reiterated to Secretary Purdue why these USDA agencies should be relocated to the Kansas City area. 

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