{"id":50666,"date":"2018-12-14T11:31:08","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T16:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sustainableagriculture.net\/?p=50666"},"modified":"2018-12-21T16:49:23","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T21:49:23","slug":"2018-farm-bill-drilldown-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainableagriculture.net\/blog\/2018-farm-bill-drilldown-research\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Farm Bill Drilldown: Research and Plant Breeding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Rogers
Rogers Farm Forage and Crop Research Facility, Maine. Photo credit: Reana Kovalcik. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the final negotiated 2018 Farm Bill<\/a>, which was released on December 11, 2018 by the leaders of the Farm Bill Conference Committee. Subsequent posts focus on crop insurance and commodity subsidies<\/a>; previous posts focused on local and regional food<\/a> and beginning\/socially disadvantaged farmers<\/a>, organic agriculture<\/a>, and conservation<\/a>. The bill was passed by the House and Senate this week and sent to the President for his signature.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investment in public agricultural research leads to the advancement of new farming techniques and practices that can help farmers increase their profitability and sustainability. A strong investment in research underpins growth in any sector, as all farmers \u2013 sustainable, organic, conventional, or otherwise \u2013 need cutting-edge research that is easily accessible and relevant to their farming systems.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several research and extension programs rely on the farm bill for their funding or authorization, including the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative<\/a> (OREI), Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program <\/a>(SARE), Specialty Crop Research Initiative<\/a> (SCRI),  and Agriculture and Food Research Initiative<\/a> (AFRI). The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) was pleased that each of these important programs was reauthorized in the recently finalized 2018 Farm Bill. We are also encouraged to see the inclusion of public plant breeding provisions that will increase farmers\u2019 access to the most productive and well-adapted seeds for their operations, geographies, and climates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally, the compromise farm bill followed the Senate-passed bill\u2019s language on the research title, which in turn mirrored many of NSAC\u2019s farm bill proposals. About $630 million in new funding was allocated to agriculture research in the final bill: the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative<\/a> (OREI) received $395 million (bringing the program to permanent, baseline funding), urban agriculture $10 million, and $40 million was allotted for 1890 land-grant scholarships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The achievement of permanent funding for OREI is a huge win for organic farmers and the organic industry writ large. NSAC applauds Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for recognizing the importance of organic research and for pushing this funding increase forward in the final bill, along with the legislative champions who fought hard for this win, including Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), and Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) – lead sponsors of the Organic Agriculture Research Act<\/a><\/em>.
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Though the Research Title did well overall, we were disappointed that dedicated funding for plant breeding research was not included. However, the reauthorization of the National Genetics Resources Program and improvements to the National Genetics Resources Advisory Council should allow stakeholders (including farmers and breeders) to continue providing valuable input on ways federal programs can help to address future seed needs. These provisions were included in the Seeds For the Future Act<\/em><\/a>, which NSAC championed, and we thank Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Darren Soto (D-FL) and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) for their leadership on these issues in the farm bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, we include a summary of the key takeaways on how the final conferenced farm bill approaches programs and policies that support research and plant breeding programs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n