Closure of USDA service center in Dayton may hinder access to farm programs

Credit: Greg Lehman, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

Farmers in Columbia County may have trouble accessing programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture locally when the USDA’s Dayton service center closes under federal cost-cutting reforms.

The fate of the service center's employees remains unclear.

The Port of Columbia received notice from the General Services Administration, a federal agency that oversees U.S. government properties, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, that the lease on the building at 531 Cameron St. will end, effective Sunday, Aug. 31.

“No one in the local or state offices knew about it until I told them,” Jennie Dickinson, the Port’s executive director, said in an email.

The city of Dayton was also unaware of the lease termination. Calls to two of the three Columbia County commissioners were not immediately returned. The third had not heard the office was closing.

The building, part of the port’s Rock Hill Industrial Park, houses the USDA’s local service center of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service “works with landowners for conservation planning and assistance to foster healthy ecosystems,” while the Farm Service Agency “supports farms and farming communities with programs including disaster relief, conservation programs, commodity price guarantee programs, and loan programs,” according to USA.gov.

Jennie Dickinson, executive director of the Port of Columbia, talks about the port's Blue Mountain Station in March 2024. Dickinson, whose family owns farmland, is concerned about how the closure of Dayton's U.S. Department of Agriculture service center will affect local farmers' access to USDA programs.

The government's lease was set to renew in October. Dickinson said the termination could mean the loss of six jobs in Columbia County and will disrupt local access to farm programs.

“No one seems to know if the employees will be moved, terminated, or what," she said. "No one seems to (know) how farmers will access the programs, either. I guess they’ll have to drive to a different town.”

Dickinson, whose family owns farmland, said in an interview: “It’s a big deal. The farm programs are a big deal. It’s not a huge amount of money — it’s not like it’s all that saves the farmers — but it’s pretty important. They’re very important."

The Department of Government Efficiency — an undertaking launched by an executive order of U.S President Donald Trump — lists the industrial building, identified as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, on its website among federal properties whose leases are targeted for termination.

The day before the notice arrived, the Port had its annual GSA inspection by the same employee who manages the lease, Dickinson said. That person also didn’t know the lease would be canceled, she said.

“Whoever’s making the decisions is not talking to the management or staff,” Dickinson said. "They don’t know anything.”

Dickinson has since learned that that GSA employee "has been put on administrative leave and does not know who will manage the lease moving forward," she said in a text message.

A spokesperson for the GSA said in a statement: “Acting Administrator (Stephen) Ehikian’s vision for GSA includes reducing our deferred maintenance liabilities, supporting the return to office of federal employees, and taking advantage of a stronger private/government partnership in managing the workforce of the future.

“GSA is reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization. A component of our space consolidation plan will be the termination of many soft term leases. To the extent these terminations affect public facing facilities and/or existing tenants, we are working with our agency partners to secure suitable alternative space. In many cases this will allow us to increase space utilization and obtain improved terms.”

Contacts at the Dayton service center did not immediately respond to emails from the Union-Bulletin. One employee said in a phone conversation that the staff was restrained on what they could say and referred the Union-Bulletin up the chain. The deputy state executive director of the FSA then referred questions to the USDA.

A USDA spokesperson gave the following statement: “Secretary (Brooke) Rollins fully supports President Trump’s directive to eliminate wasteful spending and ensure taxpayer dollars are used effectively. USDA is optimizing building capacity and consolidating underutilized offices to reduce inefficiencies while continuing to prioritize frontline services for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.”

Lease history 

The local Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency used to reside in the government building on Second Street and eventually sought to move.

The Port wanted the USDA to remain in Dayton and borrowed $250,000 to remodel the Cameron Street building for the two agencies, Dickinson said.

“If they couldn’t find an adequate place to rent, we were afraid they would move the services to Walla Walla, so we made sure we provided them a great building,” she said in an interview, “and it’s beautiful.”

The agencies became Port tenants in 2015.

“Rural communities like Walla Walla and Dayton have a high percentage of government employment,” Dickinson said in an email. “I’m afraid this may only be the beginning of cuts that will hurt our community.”

Dickinson, speaking for herself, said:

“Honestly, I will tell you, there are things that are ridiculous about the government, you know? There are things that could be — in our experience with that entity — things that could be shored up that would save the government money, like: ‘Don’t make us paint the walls if they don’t need it,’ but they do, ‘Don’t make us replace the carpet unless it really needs it,’ but they do…

“So I don’t want people to think that we don’t approve of efficiency … but it’s just ridiculous. They could make changes, but you can’t do it with an ax. You'd have to do it with a scalpel.”

Erick Bengel is a Murrow News Fellow at the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, whose beat focuses on rural civic affairs. He can be reached at ebengel@wwub.com or 509-526-8313.