News provision prohibited
Trump stops USDA agriculture reporting
2000 researchers from the USDA Department of Agriculture received an internal memo Monday – January 23 – stating that public reporting will be stopped immediately. That news came out when news site Buzzfeed got the mail. It is yet another remarkable event surrounding Trump's new presidency.
The US Department of Agriculture, USDA for short, has banned scientists and other employees from disclosing information about research results. The ban applies to all information that is normally brought into the world. From scientific studies to news reports and tweets. Since January 20 - before Trump's inauguration - the USDA twitter account has been quiet.
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On Monday, January 23, all employees of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), part of the USDA, received an email requesting that they immediately stop communicating information to the public about taxpayer-funded research.
"ARS will stop sharing public documents with the public immediately and until further orders," writes ARS chief of staff Sharon Drumm. 'This includes press releases, photos, fact sheets, news items and all social media reporting.' The document doesn't directly link to Trump's new presidential administration, but that's how USDA scientists interpret it. They see it as a message that a lot is going to change within the ministry.
There is also confusion after the coverage. For example, a spokesperson said that publications in scientific journals and conferences are allowed, but that media interviews must first be approved by Washington. The decision is unexpected, as USDA's agricultural publications usually do not carry a heavy political weight. Nevertheless, news about plant protection products and GMOs is considered to be very sensitive.
Critics especially fear USDA research on climate change. Under Obama, a lot of research money was spent on reducing methane emissions from cows. With Sonny Perdue as agricultural secretary, they believe that climate change research is no longer a priority. In the past, Perdue has been skeptical about climate change.
The USDA isn't the only one to receive a messaging ban. For example, it was announced Monday that the Trump administration has also silenced the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Park Service. It has been quiet around both government bodies since the inauguration.
Only employees of the USDA research branch ARS have received an email. The USDA's general Twitter account has also been quiet since the inauguration, however, figures on, for example, slaughter and exports are still being published.
Niels van der Boom
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