Two USDA agencies are “thriving” a year after moving from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City, Mo., a top official says.

The Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture didn’t miss a single report date during the transition, said Scott Hutchins, USDA deputy under secretary for research, education and economics.

“That was a heavy lift,” Hutchins said of the move.

During that time, ERS responded to more than three times the usual number of requests to examine the effects of COVID-19, he said.

NIFA this year delivered 10% more grants with 100 fewer people, at the same pace and schedule as 2018 before the relocation. Last year, it also got everything done in the midst of the relocation, he said.

Both ERS and NIFA lost 75% of their staff in the first months of the relocation, he said. Everyone was offered the opportunity to relocate. About 95% of everyone who could not relocate either retired or found new jobs, finding an outcome they were willing to accept in a positive way, Hutchins said.

The agencies will move into their permanent building by early November, he said.

Agency staff numbers are now about 30% lower than before the move. Hutchins said the agencies now need to make sure they’re hiring people who fill needs instead of hiring just to hire.

“The missions are on track, the missions are doing fantastic, no one didn’t get their grants, no one lost their jobs because they didn’t get grants on time,” he said. “We spent every day, and every night, making sure we understand individual circumstances.”

In addition to NIFA and ERS, Hutchins oversees the Agricultural Research Service and National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Hutchins spoke Oct. 9 during a virtual keynote address for the University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Celebrating Idaho Agriculture Event.

He outlined USDA’s agriculture innovation agenda, set by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to increase production by 40% and at the same time reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint by 50%.

Hutchins pointed to recent breakthroughs in genetics, digital and automation technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning for insect control and pest management, and systems-based farm management as key parts of the strategy.

The collaboration will include start-up companies and entrepreneurs, he said.

“Most of them don’t know the first thing about agriculture, but they’ve got solutions that are looking for problems,” he said. “If we can just connect those dots, it’s going to be amazing, the kind of things that come from it.”

Funding for agriculture research has been increasing, Hutchins said. He considers agriculture a “candyland of opportunity for high science and high technology.”

He said researchers will be “pleased” when the 2021 budget is set.

“The administration, the president’s budget office and so forth, have been very supportive of research efforts here, and we’re starting to see that show itself in a positive way,” he said.