https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/25/department-agriculture-union-relocation-1554201 ERS union predicts mass exodus ahead of relocation As many as four out of five employees at the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service could quit instead of relocating to the agency’s new headquarters in Kansas City, according to a preliminary survey compiled by union leaders and shared exclusively with POLITICO. The mass exodus forecast by the union’s review, combined with departures ERS has already absorbed, has added to deep concerns among staff that relocation could paralyze the research agency’s work. ERS employees monitor agricultural markets and provide assessments of global commodity production, consumption and trade that farmers depend on when making planting decisions. The agency’s researchers also study the effects of climate change on agriculture, nutrition programs and the environment, among other areas. Employees selected for relocation, several of whom have told POLITICO they believe the move is an effort to stifle research that contradicts the Trump administration’s agenda, have been given until July 15 to notify the department whether they will relocate. The deadline comes one month after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the Kansas City area was selected as the new home of ERS and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.