Well, they finally did it. After years of busting my ass in the lab, pouring over data, trudging through fields in the Iowa heat, and dealing with the bureaucratic bullshit, the USDA has decided I’m expendable. Budget cuts, they say.

Funny how the suits in DC never seem to feel the sting of those “budget cuts.” No, it’s people like me, the ones actually doing the research, who get the boot. I spent years working on projects that could actually make a difference — disease-resistant crops, sustainable farming techniques, practical solutions for struggling farmers. But I guess all that doesn’t mean jack shit when the higher-ups need to massage their numbers.

And let’s not forget the never-ending stream of red tape. Every goddamn proposal took months to crawl through the system. Innovation? Ha! Good luck getting anything approved unless it’s been rubber-stamped a dozen times by people who wouldn’t know a soybean from a sunflower. The only thing that moved fast in that building was the blame when something went wrong.

I’ve worked with some of the smartest, most dedicated scientists you’ll ever meet. People who genuinely care about the farmers they serve. But passion and talent don’t mean squat when decisions are made in mahogany-paneled offices by people who’ve never set foot on a research plot.

So yeah, I’m pissed. And I’m hurt. I gave everything to that job because I believed in what we were doing. But now? I’m left standing in the wreckage, trying to figure out what’s next while the USDA carries on like nothing happened.

To anyone still stuck in that mess, I hope you keep fighting the good fight. But don’t fool yourself into thinking they’ll have your back when the budget axe comes swinging.