USDA Announces Short List For Relocating ERS, NIFA

Indiana, Kansas and North Carolina comprise the “short list” of candidates to host the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA announced Friday. "This short list of locations took into consideration critical factors required to uphold the important missions of ERS and NIFA,” USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement. USDA is looking at multiple locations in Indiana based on applications from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Purdue University and the state of Indiana. Two other locations that did not make the final top three — St. Louis and Madison, Wisconsin — “remain under consideration as alternative locations should the top three locations not suit USDA’s needs,” USDA said. USDA narrowed the list of applicants “using a set of established criteria defined by USDA, NIFA, and ERS leadership.” USDA said it expects to finalize the selection this month and has promised to provide Congress with the cost-benefit analysis it used to determine the final site. Perdue told the Senate Appropriations agriculture subcommittee in April that finalists would have a chance to update their offers. "We expect to get some good proposals here," he told lawmakers. "We will go back to those few finalists here and ask their last and best offer in that regard. If I cannot bring a deal to you that makes sense, then I would not expect you all to approve it.”