In preparation efforts for the 2018 Farm Bill, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing Thursday to discuss investments in agricultural research.
During the hearing, the committee heard from six higher education representatives on the opportunities and challenges institutions face in ensuring the U.S. remains a world leader in agricultural research and scientific advancement.
Texas Tech University Chancellor Robert Duncan said without financial support from the 2018 Farm Bill, non-land grant institutions such as Texas Tech University and Angelo State University would struggle to make advancements.
?In 2008 and in 2014, this committee and Congress recognized the importance of non-land grant institutions competing for agriculture funds and needing more capacity,? Duncan said. ?The appropriation was $5 million a year. With 70 no-land grant institutions, you can see that $5 million a year doesn?t go very far. And so I think a help for institutions that are non-land grant would be significant.?
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Dean for Research and Director Jacqueline Burns said Florida agriculture is diverse, as is the requirement for research in all of the important Ag and natural resource systems.
?Competitive research awards authorized by the farm bill provide enormous opportunities for our faculties to support agricultural enterprises in the region, state, nation and the world.? Burns said. ?Programs such as National Food Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) and its provision for block grants to the states of agriculture that fund regional needs have been effective, timely and impactful.?
Following the hearing, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Mike Conaway (TX-11) said research is the driving force behind American agricultural innovation.
?Farmers and ranchers have long depended on advances in science and innovation to carry on through tough economic times,? Conaway said. ?The current state of the rural economy only further underscores the need to continue making key investments in the agriculture research system. While or nation?s serious budget issues must be addressed, we must do so without jeopardizing our status as the world leader in cutting-edge agricultural research.?
