Federal Government Primary Funder of US Ag Research

The Federal Government provides 64 percent of public agricultural research and development funding in the United States. 

USDA’s Economic Research Service released new data on ag research Tuesday. 

The data shows state governments and non-governmental sources, including funds generated by universities, account for the other 36 percent of funds for public agricultural R&D. 

Federal funds are delivered via external grants to universities and other cooperating institutions, and through appropriations to USDA agencies. 

Most of the federal funding for agricultural research performed by non-Federal institutions is managed by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. 

NIFA allocates the funds through grants to land grant and minority-serving institutions and through competitive grants open to all universities. 

Of the $1.6 billion in agricultural research by USDA research agencies, about $165 million was allocated to cooperative research agreements with universities. 

The National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies are also important funders of agricultural research and development.

(Story Courtesy of the NAFB News Service)