In conjunction with the SoAR Foundation, The National Academies has officially announced the Breakthroughs 2030 study to produce a 10-year agenda for food and agriculture research. Nominations for the study’s lead committee are due by March 22. Please contact Tim Fink (tfink@supportagresearch.org or 571-257-7625) with any questions.
For more info, see: http://bit.ly/2n3MijK
Federal funding for agricultural research—not just avian flu grants, but everything including breeding drought-resistant corn varieties to devising new ways to process livestock waste—has remained mostly flat for decades. Between 2000 and 2008, the U.S. agricultural R&D budget barely increased by two percent annually. China, on the other hand, doubled its agricultural R&D budget in the same time period.
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Everyone’s talking about the historic drought in California and how much water the farmers there need. Deep concern is understandable; they grow a large share of our country’s food supply.
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Earlier this year, backed by a $1 million pledge from an affluent supporter, a coalition of 15 university, research, and industry groups founded Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR), a Washington, D.C.–based, nonpartisan education group with a separate lobbying arm. And they hired a veteran Washington operative, Tom Grumbly, to run it.
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