WASHINGTON – North Dakota will gain 45 additional Agricultural Research Service (ARS) employees and 10 new research projects totaling about $28.5 million in annual research as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture reorganization plan, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, announced Thursday, April 23.

Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said the research is being reassigned from Maryland’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

USDA’s reorganization will include moving two research projects totaling $3.8 million and 17 ARS employees to Fargo. Meanwhile, Grand Forks will receive eight new research projects totaling $24.7 million and 28 ARS employees.

Hoeven said he has been working to ensure that USDA utilizes the state’s agriculture research expertise as part of the department’s plan to relocate its services closer to farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Hoeven hosted USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and Under Secretary for Agriculture Research, Education and Economics Scott Hutchins in North Dakota to showcase the state’s ag leadership as the department developed its reorganization plans.

“With North Dakota State University, the University of North Dakota, Grand Farm and our existing ARS facilities, North Dakota is already a premier agriculture research hub, so it only makes sense that USDA would bring new, ongoing research projects and additional ARS employees to our state as part of efforts to refocus USDA on its core missions,” Hoeven said in a news release. “We appreciate Secretary Rollins for recognizing North Dakota’s ag research leadership and utilizing our state more fully in USDA’s work. USDA’s reorganization plan will expand North Dakota’s ag research leadership and keep our state at the forefront in helping our agriculture producers increase their productivity and success.”