WASHINGTON - There are discussions happening in Washington D.C. about the potential relocation for parts of the United States Department of Agriculture, including parts of the Agricultural Research Service.

Sen. Deb Fischer speaking about the benefits of moving some of those operations to Nebraska being a win-win for ranchers.
Not to mention the strong ag connections already located in Nebraska like Clay Center's Meat Animal research facility, even with potential budget cuts facing the USDA. Fischer says she has been working to secure funding for an ARS facility that's focused on innovative precision agriculture research that is co-located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

"The President's budget does call for cuts to ARS funding, but I think it's also important for us to make sure that the dollars that we do spend on research and facilities gets stretched as far as it can," Fischer said.

"... I appreciate that and the great research that happens in Nebraska," Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said. "A quick note on ARS, while we are decreasing the budget, it's 2.1 billion currently under the President's budget. From Friday, it goes down to 1.9 billion. That's about a seven and a half percent decrease. And that's really focused on just some facilities that are way behind on repair and just out of date and not meeting the mark, obviously not yours in Nebraska."

Rollins adds those cuts would be a targeted amount of funds pulled from less efficient places.