Courts desk · Fewer than 10 votes on record · closed Oct 13

Do you support or oppose the USDA plan to close the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and relocate its scientists to labs around the country?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is closing the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland, its oldest and largest research facility, under a reorganization plan announced in July 2025, and relocating the center's scientists to USDA labs in other parts of the country. The 6,500-acre campus houses about 20 research units studying subjects including foodborne pathogens, plant diseases and crop yields, and had about 400 employees in summer 2025. A federal employee union has challenged the reorganization in court, and a stay order is in place while a federal judge in California considers an injunction.