Hirono, Colleagues Urge USDA, OMB to Boost Public Food and Agriculture Research Funding in Fiscal Year 2025

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined 13 of her colleagues in sending a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young urging the agency leaders to increase the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) research budget by at least five percent, plus inflation, for Fiscal Year 2025. In the letter, led by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senators emphasized the importance of public funding for food and agriculture research as it ensures that the U.S. remains competitive in the global market.

The U.S. share of public agriculture research investments globally among high-income countries as a group has declined from 35 percent in 1960 to less than 25 percent by 2013. By comparison, in the past 30 years, China’s investments in public agriculture research has risen eight-fold, with China now the world’s largest public funder of agriculture research. According to a 2021 report jointly commissioned by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Farm Journal Foundation, U.S. public spending on food and agriculture has been flat for the past decade, threatening the competitiveness of U.S food systems, a growing concern as the global population may reach 10 billion by 2050, and food production needs will increase by 60 to 70 percent. 

“As the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget request is prepared, we request that an increase of at least five percent, plus inflation, above the FY 2024 funding levels proposed by the Senate, be provided across the board for all USDA research activities underway within the Agricultural Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Economic Research Service, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service,” the Senators wrote.

The letter continues on, noting that public research leads to rapid discoveries that widely benefit society.

“The public sector can pursue research into subjects and specialties that the private sector cannot or will not, while allowing for unrestricted and greater dissemination of shared research and the exploration of multiple applications of that knowledge,” wrote the lawmakers. “Such open-access research helps to increase the pace of discoveries whereby the cost-benefits of the initial investment can have a dramatically expanded payback to society, by some estimates ranging between a 20 to 60 percent rate of return.”

The Senators reiterated that this increased funding will prepare the food and agricultural sector for future challenges including global population growth, sustainability, changing weather patterns, and plant and animal diseases. 

In addition to Senators Hirono and Durbin, the letter was also signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Vilsack and Director Young:

As the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget request is prepared, we request that an increase of at least five percent, plus inflation, above the FY 2024 funding levels proposed by the Senate, be provided across the board for all USDA research activities underway within the Agricultural Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Economic Research Service, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

For decades, public and private sector contributions to domestic food and agricultural research in the U.S. remained relatively steady, each contributing roughly half of total expenditures.  Between 2008 and 2013, however, public investments in food and agricultural research dropped by 20 percent in inflation-adjusted terms, while the contributions by large private-sector corporations have increased by 64 percent over the same period. 

Private research has achieved noteworthy and widespread breakthroughs, but typically entails proprietary protections and provides a more immediate return for the sponsoring enterprise.  It is not a substitute for public research.  The public sector can pursue research into subjects and specialties that the private sector cannot or will not, while allowing for unrestricted and greater dissemination of shared research and the exploration of multiple applications of that knowledge.  Such open-access research helps to increase the pace of discoveries whereby the cost-benefits of the initial investment can have a dramatically expanded payback to society, by some estimates ranging between a 20 to 60 percent rate of return.

While U.S. public agricultural research spending has declined during the past 30 years, China’s public agricultural research spending has increased by eight times, surpassing U.S. public investments more than 10 years ago.  This is concerning given global population growth, increasing consumer demand for sustainability, changing weather patterns, and greater risks for plant and animal disease transmissions.  Trends in life sciences, communications, data management, robotics, and engineering, strongly suggest that American agriculture is on the cusp of yet another sweeping transformation similar to that which emerged after the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

We ask your support for food and agricultural research by providing an increase of at least five percent, plus inflation, above the FY 2024 levels proposed by the Senate for USDA research activities for FY 2025.  Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

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