I’m not sure I follow exactly what they are announcing but, perhaps the catalog is going away? 
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Sounds like the new administration is ordering multiple agencies to stop any public communications:
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Goodbye to Abraham Lincoln’s Agriculture Extension program.
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I don’t want to turn this thread into a political debate, but it seems to me that any department that engages on the issue of climate change through policy or research is being silenced. Good thing 2016 wasn’t the hottest year on record.
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Kinda makes sense — I think the message is don’t release documents, make public statements, w/o organizational approval first. No idea how high up the ‘approval’ will have to go. With most organizations / companies Joe Bloe isn’t given access to the AP press release account and allowed to release whatever statement he wants. With social media anybody can release anything — so there’s got to be some guidelines – as to what an ‘official’ communication is. This stance does strike me a bit hypocritical coming from the Donald.
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Having spent 3 years in the DOE National Lab system, I can say that while social media of staff is largely unregulated, the websites and public relations/media as well as scientific publications are heavily curated at an organizational level. If USDA is anything like DOE, then it is very unlikely that Joe Bloe scientist has any sort of access to the public-facing websites.
Furthermore, while publications were not politically vetted before being released, they are at least read to confirm that the government/lab contractor isn’t forfeiting any IP rights thru publication and any sensitive information (business or natl security) isn’t being published. I’m not sure how that pertains at USDA though. DOE is possibly more sensitive to that given the large range of natl security work that goes on at DOE contractor labs (e.g. the National Nuclear Security Agency).
@Levers101 — I was employed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as a scientist (so small world?) also part of the Department of Energy. (This was of course when social media was in its infancy…Myspace still exist?) I had plenty of access to science reporters, conferences, etc where I could have taken great liberty in pitching my work to support ‘whatever’ personal whimsy might have enchanted me at the time. None of my peer reviewed publications were first approved or reviewed by any internal review before publication. Grant applications were reviewed on the other hand — so go figure. Obviously, the level of scrutiny is proportionate to the sensitivity of the work being published. But in Berkeley I can easily imagine someone with a joint appointment at LBNL and UC Berkeley going off the reservation w/ some wackadoodle statements – especially when their green grant for turning switchgrass into $50/gallon biodiesel gets defunded.
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It’s all about making sure no Federal agency publishes anything that contradicts the administration’s Alternate Facts.
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The rest of the story.
Lots of knee-jerk conclusions this week it appears. Hopefully people will get a grip and settle down.
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Hardly reassuring to see this appended to that article, though:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-epa-climatechange-idUSKBN15906G
There’s nothing knee-jerk about @ampersand’s conclusion:
[Federal agencies ordered to restrict their communications]
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-agencies-ordered-to-restrict-their-communications/2017/01/24/9daa6aa4-e26f-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html?utm_term=.cfe1e41099df)
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I also think people are jumping a little bit to conclusions. In fact here is a quote from the EPA in the article stating that there is nothing unusual for there to be a pause in issuing statements and news briefs while they get on the same page with a new administration.
“The EPA fully intends to continue to provide information to the public,” the agency said in a statement Tuesday, in response to questions about the media blackout. “A fresh look at public affairs and communications processes is common practice for any new Administration, and a short pause in activities allows for this assessment.”
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Oh my, Richard, my ‘knee jerk’ comment was not referring to @ampersand or anyone on this forum but rather to the media! My apologies to anyone to took this the wrong way.
I agree with @Calron that there is a rush to get any info out there. It seems to me that the quality of the news in the past few months has been more inflammatory than accurate (USDA Scientists Have Been Put On Lockdown Under Trump_?!?!?!). That title is more inflammation than information. And that same source (Buzzfeed) published a total fabrication this past week. Sigh. That’s who needs to just settle down.
[Full disclosure - my daughter is working in the White House]
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I just received an e-mail from UPS that a package is headed my way. They list the reference code as “Chao.”
I happen to know there is a Dr. Chao who directs the USDA station in Geneva, New York. This means the USDA is shipping me some of my requested apple scionwood. Yay!
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Yeah I got mine in the mail last week. 
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I think the Washington Post is a very reliable source. I don’t know why anyone would read BuzzFeed.
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An Open Letter to USDA Geneva
(Moments ago, I e-mailed this message to the USDA station in Geneva, New York):
"I just received an e-mail from UPS saying a package is headed my way. The reference code is ‘chao.’
I’m smart enough to know this package is coming from the Geneva station and contains some apple scionwood for experimentation.
I want to thank you and your colleagues for this valuable service. I will remain vigilant in supporting and advocating for your program. It is a good program that benefits the American people.
No need to respond. Please share with your colleagues my very best regards to you all."
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kiss ass.
Dawn from Geneva is awesome to talk to, fyi…
Yes she is!!
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I sent in a request, and it was declined.