Fostering innovation and global competitiveness in the 2023 Farm Bill

Provide Robust, Diverse Support for Agricultural Research

The productivity and economic prosperity of American agriculture seen today is built on decades of investments in agricultural research and innovation. To address the current and emerging challenges to build a resilient and equitable agricultural system for the future, we must not only maintain, but also grow the investment in USDA-sponsored research. The limited number of total USDA research dollars are the top barrier for expanding agricultural research and innovation across the U.S. Programmatic changes, such as extending the lengths of grants to account for multi-year field studies and clarifying priority area definitions, while still allowing for rapid research response to critical emerging issues, could allow USDA to better support and sustain long-term agricultural research: an across-the-board increase in federal investment in agricultural research programs remains critical.

Improve Climate Coordination to Support Translational Research

As climate change exacerbates the pressures on agricultural producers to do even more with less, while requiring agile production decisions in the face of changing environments, the pace of information exchange needs to quicken. To move into the future, collaborations among existing groups should be strengthened, and new, interdisciplinary, and multilevel alliances must be formed. This will contribute to the free flow of information to and from the producers on the ground and encourage a more rapid dissemination of best practices.

Facilitate FAIR Data Collection, Sharing, and Storage

To achieve rapid and efficient gains in agricultural resilience, we will need to address the significant impediment posed by a lack of data infrastructure, long fostered by a research culture that has eschewed data sharing. USDA should also put considerable thought into what data should be collected; data management; long-term sustainability, preservation, and curation practices; and importantly, data privacy, especially where working farms are concerned. New USDA programs that incentivize climate-smart agricultural practices should include a mandatory data collection component that feeds information into this data repository. Just as crucial as sustained funding for data collection is the development and sustained maintenance of an agricultural data repository and a national, coordinated system to funnel observations into it. The repository should ascribe to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. Funding designated to set up the repository must also include tools to train and incentivize researchers and students to contribute organized and annotated data and meta-specialists for data extraction and upload applications.

Support Equitable Outcomes in Research, Education, and Production

ASA, CSSA, and SSSA have made the commitment to enhancing the experiences, opportunities, and safety of all Society members by creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment in our scientific fields of study. USDA can play an invaluable role in addressing the equity challenges facing minority and underrepresented groups within the agricultural research workforce. Robust federal funding for the broad suite of USDA research programs can advance a more representative and equitable agricultural research enterprise by bolstering the student pipeline, expanding educational programs and grants—especially for minority-serving institutions (MSIs)—expanding resources for early career researchers, and facilitating collaborations with diverse stakeholders to address existential threats, such as climate change. Further, we recognize that promoting equitable outcomes does not stop with the research workforce but extends to extension, outreach, and production.

Leverage Networks of Trusted, On-Farm Advisers to Meet Technical Assistance Needs

Agricultural extension and USDA-NRCS employees work along with certified professional advisers, such as CCAs, to bring the latest techniques and technologies to producers. Extension and certified professionals are already trusted resources that producers turn to for advice and assistance, and USDA should leverage these relationships to deliver technical assistance. At the same time when technical assistance is in high demand, the cooperative extension system is plagued with run-down infrastructure, reduced budgets, and limited personnel. Further, certified professionals struggle to navigate the cumbersome and complex process to gain Technical Service Provider certification. To deliver adequate assistance to producers and help them navigate production challenges and conservation opportunities, USDA needs to support an all-hands-on-deck approach among on-farm advisers.

You can keep up with all of our farm bill efforts by visiting https://www.agronomy.org/science-policy/issues/farm-bill.