Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 7/8/19

Top USDA research and economics officials told employees in a letter on Friday that the department has no policy of minimizing or influencing climate-related science, your host reports. The letter noted that more than 500 articles related to the department's climate science projects were published in scientific journals in 2018.

The statement came almost two weeks after an investigation by Pro Ag's Helena Bottemiller Evich revealed USDA has largely stopped promoting its own climate science. Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the department has issued three press releases for climate-related research, two of which had findings that were favorable to the politically powerful meat industry often criticized for its greenhouse gas emissions.

The letter to USDA employees, led by Scott Hutchins, the deputy undersecretary for research, education and economics, said the department is communicating climate-related research to "climate science stakeholders" via press releases, social media, external websites and community outreach efforts.

When POLITICO asked for specific examples, a USDA spokesperson cited Climate Hubs , which were set up during the Obama administration to give regionally specific information and tools to farmers for mitigation and adapting to climate change. They also mentioned USDA's Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network, or LTAR, which is developing strategies for scaling up food production in a sustainable way.

Social media silence: A quick search of USDA social media and blog posts runs counter to the department's statements about promoting its work on climate change. USDA's Twitter account, for example, has touted the work of Climate Hubs one time during this administration. The brief mention of USDA's Southern Plains Climate Hub came just weeks after Trump's inauguration. In September 2017, USDA's account, which boasts more than 630,000 followers, said the website was relaunched. That tweet included the hashtag #climatechange, which marks the only time the account has referenced the term in two and a half years.

Minimal public reach: There is a separate Climate Hubs Twitter account that remains active, but has a relatively small following (just over 3,000 followers). The LTAR project doesn't appear to be public-facing. There's one LTAR Twitter account online, it's not run by USDA and it has 54 followers.