The Agriculture Department has notified some building owners of plans to terminate office leases as the Trump administration seeks to cut back on agency spending.
Lease terminations are officially underway for 58 Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service offices, including some where employees are currently housed, according to the Department of Government Efficiency's website.
Steve Peterson, who is serving as USDA's' acting deputy undersecretary for farm production and conservation, told Agri-Pulse Monday at Commodity Classic in Denver that the purpose is to “evaluate savings and see whether or not there’s the ability to renegotiate or find other locations in those areas to possibly find cheaper rent.”
“It’s not that those sites are not important," Peterson said of the offices. "They are important. It’s just, what I’ve heard and understand is that in the evaluation of leases, rents just continue to climb and go up and up and up. So this is an opportunity to reevaluate those leases and maybe renegotiate at a lower rate.”
Among these is the Kentucky state FSA office in Lexington, which is housed in the same building as the state NRCS office. One source who spoke to Agri-Pulse on the condition of anonymity said the office's lease is being terminated by the General Services Administration with no plans for where staff will go, or what will happen with paper copies of easement filings stored onsite.
Peterson, however, said the terminations will take place "down the road," giving agency officials time to find new locations for staff. Peterson also said all equipment and files will be removed from affected offices and stored in temporary locations until they can be moved to new sites.
"We would never leave any records behind. They would have to go with us," Peterson said. "We would have to pay to have them moved, and then moved into a new location."
American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky farmer, said he's going to wait and see what happens with the cancellation in his home state, but added employees will need an office to go to "if they're calling everybody back to work."
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"If they're finding a way to use our tax dollars more economically and get a better deal, that's all well and good," he said. "They are going to need a home somewhere, though, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out."
A GSA spokesperson said in a written statement that Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian's vision for GSA "includes reducing our deferred maintenance liabilities, supporting the return to office of federal employees, and taking advantage of a stronger private/government partnership in managing the workforce of the future."
The spokesperson said the agency is "reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization," and added that part of its "space consolidation plan will be the termination of many soft term leases."
"To the extent these terminations affect public facing facilities and/or existing tenants, we are working with our agency partners to secure suitable alternative space," the GSA spokesperson said. "In many cases this will allow us to increase space utilization and obtain improved terms."
An FSA state office space in Fargo, North Dakota, is also having its lease terminated, according to a list of affected sites published by DOGE. While the Farm Service Agency was listed by DOGE as the main leaseholder, NRCS staff also work at the location.
FSA state office listings on the DOGE website also include spaces in Montgomery, Alabama; Madera, California; Hato Rey and Mayagüez, Puerto Rico; Annapolis, Maryland; and Nacogdoches, Texas.
Lease terminations have also been announced for 13 FSA county offices located in Batesville, Arkansas; Watertown, South Dakota; Hendersonville, North Carolina; Paragould, Arkansas; Monticello, Utah; Baudette, Minnesota; Wilkesboro, North Carolina; Clovis, New Mexico; Utuado, Puerto Rico; Roswell, New Mexico; Ponce, Puerto Rico Lares, Puerto Rico; Gonzalez, Texas; and Bakersfield, California.
The Department of Government Efficiency’s website currently lists 36 NRCS office leases as being terminated. These offices are located in Batesville, Arkansas; Yreka, California; Pearl, Mississippi; Greensboro, North Carolina; Amherst, Massachusetts; St. Johnsbury, Vermont; Oxnard, California; Fairbanks, Alaska; Wasilla, Arkansas; Puyallup, Washington; Dayton, Washington; Raton, New Mexico; Lincoln, Nebraska; Lawrence, Kansas; Conway, Arkansas; Dover, New Hampshire; Yuma, Arizona; Woodland, California; Griffin, Georgia; Goldsboro, North Carolina; Fargo, North Dakota; Gallup, New Mexico; Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands; San Sebastian, Puerto Rico; Greenwood, Mississippi; Portland, Oregon; Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Columbia, Mississippi; Missoula, Montanan; Gallatin, Tennessee; Logan, Utah; Blythe, California; Syracuse, New York; and Renton, Washingon.
The source that spoke to Agri-Pulse on the condition of anonymity said they had heard as many as 70 office spaces utilized by NRCS employees will be impacted by lease terminations, though Peterson said he was not aware of that being the case.
FSA offices are often shared with NRCS, which means lease terminations tend to impact both agencies, Peterson said. Rural Development employees often work in these offices, too.
Eleven offices used by the Rural Housing Service, a division of Rural Development, are listed on the DOGE website as having leases terminated. They are located in Batesville, Arkansas; Palmer, Alaska; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Dover, Delaware; Ocala, Florida; Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.; Christiansted, Virgin Islands; Topeka, Kansas; Bangor, Maine; Mt. Laurel, New Jersey.; and Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
The DOGE website claims the FSA state and county office lease terminations will save $9.7 million and the NRCS office terminations will save $19.3 million. It estimates $8.6 million will be saved due to the Rural Housing Service lease terminations.
For more news, go to www.agri-pulse.com.
This story has been updated to include comment from ASA President Caleb Ragland and a GSA spokesperson.
Lydia Johnson contributed to this report.
