Senate appropriators from both sides of the aisle yesterday butted heads with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack over his department's plan to close more than 250 offices and laboratories nationwide.

The plan, announced early this year, was in response to the growing pressures on the Agriculture Department's budget after Congress slashed it late last year. Affected were 10 research stations studying everything from pests and diseases to Alaska seafood (Greenwire, Jan. 26).

At a hearing yesterday of the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, lawmakers sharply criticized USDA's decision to close offices, saying they had concerns about the state of agricultural research after the closures.

The plan prompted Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor (D) to bluntly ask the secretary, "Are you getting out of the research business?"

Vilsack defended the closures, many of which are already taking place, saying that budget cuts from Congress left the department little choice. In the final fiscal 2012 appropriations bill signed by President Obama in November, USDA's Agricultural Research Service suffered a $40 million blow.

"These are tough issues, senator," Vilsack said. "When Congress is telling us that you're going to have less money, these are hard decisions. There's no easy answer."

Vilsack added, "We have desperately tried to avoid furloughs and layoffs."

The decisions to close certain facilities were based on the age of the buildings and the priority of the research. The programs with the lowest priority housed in the oldest facilities were more likely to be cut, regardless of where they were located, the secretary said.

In response to concerns from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) about the closing of the research station in Coshocton, Ohio, Vilsack said the department was looking into partnerships with universities where it can to pick up the research.

Since the 1930s, the research service at Coshocton has managed a large experimental watershed and monitored rainfall, nutrients, temperatures, growing days and other data.

"We are certainly amenable to working with partnerships," Vilsack said. "In some places, discussions have already taken place and are taking place."

The secretary also tossed out the idea of leasing or selling the land to beginning farmers and the creation of a foundation to help fund further research.

This year, Obama has requested $23 billion in discretionary spending for Department of Agriculture programs. Discretionary spending would be about 3 percent lower than the enacted fiscal 2012 levels.

Included in that request is $93 million in discretionary funding for the Agricultural Research Service.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), ranking member of the subpanel, maintained that agricultural research was of the highest importance as Congress weighs the budget request.

"Sound agricultural research is the cornerstone to success in all aspects of the agriculture industry," Blunt said in his opening statement.

But the research programs, like all agricultural programs, are likely to see further cuts in the budget process.