The Leland Progress
USDA official says Stoneville staff will remain under reorganization plan
By Editor
A top U.S. Department of Agriculture official said that staff at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) facility in Stoneville are expected to remain in place, even as the agency advances a reorganization plan that would eliminate the Southeast Area Office.
“The plan at the current time is for the staff to remain there,” Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden told U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.
The USDA proposal, announced by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, would eliminate all ARS area offices nationwide. Their functions would be absorbed by the agency’s Office of National Programs—an administrative division based in Washington, D.C., that has not previously handled regional program management or direct coordination with field scientists.
Hyde-Smith raised concerns that removing local oversight could disrupt research continuity and disconnect the agency from farmers, scientists and stakeholders in the Southeast.
“Stoneville is located in the Mississippi Delta where it remains close to thousands of farmers, producers, key stakeholders and customers, which is a key pillar for the USDA reorganization proposal,” Hyde-Smith said.
She emphasized that the Southeast Area Office plays a vital role in understanding the specific needs of scientists and research units across the region.
“The Southeast Area Office is critical to the success of the research programs in the Southeast,” she said. “The area office staff understands the research being conducted in the region and supports the area scientists at the various research units throughout the Southeast.”
Hyde-Smith also noted that Stoneville already operates as a cost-effective federal host site with quality lab and office space that could support additional USDA staff under any decentralized structure.
Still, she warned that the proposal would shift $9.9 million in operations funding away from Mississippi.
“The area office operations budget of $9.9 million dollars will no longer be managed in Stoneville if the area office is eliminated,” she said.
“This will have a negative effect on the local economy in Mississippi if employees are reassigned to other states. To me, this runs counter to moving the USDA staff outside of Washington, D.C.”
Vaden said the USDA proposal is still in development and committed to ongoing consultation with Congress. Hyde-Smith said she will remain involved to ensure any final plan protects the work being done in Stoneville.
The video of the Ag Committee hearing can be viewed on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak3PiR-DTlI&t=7s.