The Trump administration’s firing of USDA-funded scientists will hurt farmers, ranchers and a generation of agricultural researchers, Oregon State University Dean of Agricultural Sciences Staci Simonich said.

A total of 19 USDA-Agricultural Research Service scientists and support personnel at OSU-affilitated research units in Corvallis, Burns, Hood River, Newport and Pendleton were dismissed last week, according to an unofficial count.

The fired scientists and technicians had been hired within the past three years and were still on probation.

The USDA scientists collaborated with OSU scientists and worked with OSU students, Simonich said. Most are in the early stages of their careers.

“We’ll have a missing generation of agricultural and natural resource scientists,” Simonich said. “We were already falling behind in research to other countries, like China. This is not going to help.”

Probationary USDA-ARS scientists were fired nationwide, with several reporting their abrupt dismissals on social media. The USDA did not respond to a request to comment.

The Department of Government Efficiency posts on social media, but does not report in detail about its cuts to government agencies.

DOGE on Saturday listed cuts to off beat-sounding programs such as boosting voter confidence in Liberia, strengthening the political landscape of Bangladesh and “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision.”

Neither DOGE nor USDA has commented on cuts to agricultural research. The USDA said in a press release it had terminated 78 contracts totaling more than $132 million, and that more than 1,000 contracts were under review, but did not provide many details.

The USDA gave 10 examples of “frivolous Biden-era contracts,” but did not disclose the number of scientists dismissed the day before.

Fired USDA scientists were conducting research on topics such as controlling weeds, breeding blueberries, managing rangeland and irrigating hops.

Horticulturist Francisco “Paco” Gonzalez in Prosser, Wash., received an email from the USDA informing him he was immediately fired “based on your performance.”

Gonzalez’s supervisors rated him “fully successful,” according to performance reviews Gonzalez provided to the Capital Press.

Washington State Tree Fruit Association President Jon DeVaney said the association’s board members are frugal and want state and federal governments to be frugal, too. “That being said, across-the-board cuts aren’t the best way,” he said.

Oregon, Washington, California and 11 states are suing President Trump and Elon Musk, claiming Musk, neither elected nor confirmed by the Senate, is exercising power unconstitutionally.

The states are seeking a temporary restraining order to halt and undo DOGE’s firings and withholding of funds. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., had not ruled as of Monday afternoon.

States have submitted to Chutkan declarations detailing federal cuts. The U.S. Agency for International Development terminated several grants to Washington State University, including five overseen by the College of Veterinary Medicine.