WASHINGTON, D.C. — Regardless of which topic is raised, when discussing the 2018 farm bill the importance of research is almost always brought up by panelists before the House and Senate agriculture committees.

 

In June, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and the House Committee on Agriculture heard from panelists specifically about the importance of research in agriculture and the land grant program that has been in place since 1862. “Every day our farmers face new and emerging challenges posed by disease and invasive pests … researchers are stepping up to the plate,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D- Mich.), ranking member of the Senate committee.

U.S. research has helped American farmers lead the world in food production, but in the last decade public funding in China has been double the funding the United States, while India and Brazil also focus funding on research.

“If we allow our country to slip behind in agricultural research, our farmers could lose their global competitiveness. Now more than ever, it’s important to invest in critical public research and support our world class agricultural research institutions,” Stabenow explained.

Diseases and pests have impacted farmers across the country, from the cherry harvests in her state of Michigan to the orange groves of Florida. Researchers work hard to combat these. At the same time, researchers are working on technological improvements that have helped create more jobs in the biobased, renewable resources and energy crop sectors.

“Of every $1 invested in agricultural research (it) creates more than $20 in return to the U.S. economy, which is a great investment,” Stabenow said.

House Ag Committee Chair Michael Conaway (R-Texas) said producers have relied on investments in ag research to drive efficiencies and gains in productivity that have helped farmers and ranchers soldier through the toughest times.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge our world-class teaching and extension programs that are responsible for disseminating the results of that research throughout the countryside and around the globe. This sustained investment, in part, has allowed the U.S. to enjoy the safest, most affordable, and most abundant food and fiber supply in the world,” he noted.

Conaway said proposed cuts to USDA spending means every dollar needs to be scrutinized, after cuts to the current farm bill are expected to save more than $23 billion in the next 10 years. “The agriculture community has repeatedly answered the call for reform and has done more than its fair share to help generate savings,” he said.

The cuts in spending have led to a decline in public funding for agricultural research.

The private sector has funded some additional programs but the results of those studies are usually not shared with the public.

“If the U.S. is going to remain competitive going forward, we cannot afford to rest on the success of our past and take a back seat to the rest of the world. We must continue making key investments in our agricultural research system in the most efficient manner possible,” Conaway said.

Dr. Sally Rockey, executive director of Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) – a nonprofit that works closely with the USDA to foster public- private partnerships – said the goal of these is to fund innovative ways to increase access to food, support producers and the agriculture economy.

“I know we will look back on the past two years as an important, formative time spent planting the seeds of innovation, and I also know that the best is yet to come for FFAR. The relationships, scientific ideas, and organizational framework in which we have invested so much energy are just now beginning to prosper,” she said during a late June Senate hearing.

FFAR has met with more than 400 groups in food, agriculture and research to hear about different issues.

The goal is to learn enough to identify researchable issues with the potential to yield ways to improve food and agriculture forward.

Steve Wellman, former American Soybean Assoc. president, called on the Senate committee to include full funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, which he says is underfunded now because the 2008 farm bill authorized AFRI at $700 million annually but has only reached half that level. 

 

“Traditionally, we have thought of agriculture science in terms of improving yields, preventing soil erosion and adapting crops to a variety of growing conditions. Today, agriculture stands to realize significant gains through interdisciplinary research across numerous scientific fields, including data science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, biologicals and genomics,” said Wellman. “To capitalize on these relatively modern fields of science, we need to ensure we have a modern federal research enterprise.”

On his Nebraska farm, he has been able to purchase data and analytics to manage input costs more effectively and affordably. “We can always use more science to improve growing season forecasts, produce hardier plants and examine how to manage too much water or not enough.” 

 

“Traditionally, we have thought of agriculture science in terms of improving yields, preventing soil erosion and adapting crops to a variety of growing conditions. Today, agriculture stands to realize significant gains through interdisciplinary research across numerous scientific fields, including data science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, biologicals and genomics,” said Wellman.

“To capitalize on these relatively modern fields of science, we need to ensure we have a modern federal research enterprise.”

On his Nebraska farm, he has been able to purchase data and analytics to manage input costs more effectively and affordably. “We can always use more science to improve growing season forecasts, produce hardier plants and examine how to manage too much water or not enough.”